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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, welcome to episode 893 of the Juicebox Podcast.

On today's podcast we're going to be speaking with Chris and I Chris who has 12345. Wait, I ran out of fingers on that hand, six children, and one of them has type one diabetes, but there's a lot of autoimmune going on in her family. It's an interesting conversation, to say the least. While you're listening to me have that conversation with Karissa. 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. If you have type one diabetes, or are the parent of a child with type one, like Carissa says, you can go to T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juice box and complete their survey. Doing that helps move type one research forward. It takes you fewer than 10 minutes. It helps you It helps me it helps the world T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juice box. amount of stuff to say. Still loud music. Geez Hey, you can get 10% off your first. That's gonna be on tomorrow's episode. Now the music's over this episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by cozy Earth. Get great sheets, towels and clothing at cozy earth.com. And when you do that, use my offer code juicebox at checkout to save 35% off your entire order. Actually, you have to check out the webpage because I just said like towels and sheets. And that's not fair. There's way more there. I'm wearing the sweatshirt today from cozy Earth and it's banging. So soft, comfy, comfy, comfy, comfy 35% Off with juice box head over now. today's podcast is also sponsored by the contour next gen blood glucose meter. Now, we all have a blood glucose meter. Right? If you're listening to this podcast, there's a meter in your house somewhere the question is, is it a great one? Is it accurate? Is it reliable? Does it offer Second Chance testing? Because if yours doesn't contour next gen does contour next one.com forward slash juicebox

Charissa 2:38
I am Karissa. I am a mom to six. and my Number five is my type one. Kiddo. So I think that's my introduction.

Scott Benner 2:52
You have the six children the classic way or did you find them places or?

Charissa 2:57
No, they're all mine. Yeah. I popped them out the good old fashioned way.

Scott Benner 3:04
How old? Are you? Karissa?

Charissa 3:06
I am 38.

Scott Benner 3:08
Holy Hannah, are you building an army? Or are you doing this for Jesus? What is the reason you have 16? Yeah,

Charissa 3:14
a little army. I thought maybe a football team or something? Because I only have one girl and the rest are all boys. So don't stop

Scott Benner 3:21
now.

Charissa 3:23
Oh, no, I'm good. Once the youngest is out of diapers, so there's no turning back?

Scott Benner 3:28
Was there ever a thought of a seven?

Charissa 3:31
I'm probably more for me than my husband.

Scott Benner 3:36
Yeah, cuz, right. Well, what made you want to have such a big family?

Charissa 3:41
Um, I just always did. I mean, when I was little, and I played dolls, I had all of them were all of my children all at once. Like, I didn't just like pick one. So I wanted them all. And that was, you know, when when I met my husband, Andy, I was like, Listen, I'm gonna want a lot. And if that's scary for you, you're gonna have to leave. And I think he did debate it. But he stayed. So

Scott Benner 4:08
I asked. This is a serious question. That's gonna sound like a joke. Do you hoard other things?

Charissa 4:16
Um, no, I like to throw away a lot of things.

Scott Benner 4:20
That's interesting. Did you come from a large family?

Charissa 4:23
No, I I'm the middle. I have an older sister and a younger sister. And that's it.

Scott Benner 4:28
That's fascinating. Was there any point during the making of the baby's like around the third one where you thought and is this good? Or, like were you just completing the set at that point? Or were you really like did you never doubt it as you're going along?

Charissa 4:45
And no, I think I think had my body not said hey, the first one was that 10 years from the from the last one. And the last one definitely felt a little bit harder. And I think like, if that would have been a thing, I think I'd had more. But I will say my body felt it 10 years later, a lot more. And I also wanted to have like, even numbers, you know, like an amusement park, somebody had a partner, that sort of thing.

Scott Benner 5:18
I'm doing so late math in my head right now. 10 years has 120 months. That's simple math, right? But nine months to make a baby times six babies is 54 months. So 120 minus 54. So the last 10 years you've only not been pregnant for 66 months. Yeah, good times. I'm gonna divide that by 12. Real quick, just for fun. So you've been pregnant four and a half of the last 10 years. Holy hell. Okay. All right. I don't know we shouldn't like nominate you for something I guess.

Charissa 5:58
I think there's a lot more other you know, crazy people, if you will, than me. So I but it is kind of fun when you walk down the street and people like what? They all you're like, look at them. They all look yes,

Scott Benner 6:13
this lady stole children. She's rounded them up. And she's taking them somewhere someone stopper and they're so there's a 10 year old and what's how young is the youngest?

Charissa 6:23
So actually, my oldest is she's about to turn 15 And my youngest is about to turn five. So there's just 10 years between.

Scott Benner 6:32
So there's Yeah, okay, well, just for fun. 15 What's the next 150?

Charissa 6:39
Well, yeah, 15 1311? Nine, seven, and then almost five.

Scott Benner 6:48
Okay, and which one has type one the seven year old?

Charissa 6:52
The seven year old? Yes. Okay.

Scott Benner 6:55
All right. Well, you're gonna have enough energy to record this. Yeah. Okay.

Charissa 7:00
Man, I mean, they keep me going. So sure. Yeah.

Scott Benner 7:02
Is this the first year your youngest is going to school?

Charissa 7:06
No, he, he did go, we did go back to school. Right, you know, right at the beginning. So he was diagnosed may 24 2020. And then we had the option where we live to have to either go back or stay virtual when we went back to school. And that was a big debate for us. But we were like, well, hopefully a lot of people aren't. And then this is a good chance for the school nurse and the school to learn him when there's less kids. So even though that felt like really terrifying at the time, because he was, you know, only diagnosed for a few months, and he was still kind of honeymooning, and he was NDI and all the things. I was like, you know, we were thinking it's probably it's probably our best bet to put them in now. And then even though we couldn't go into the building, like make all the phone calls, because hopefully they'll have more time to hear us when we call the nurse's office

Scott Benner 8:06
that workout.

Charissa 8:08
Um, yeah, I think so. I think it really did. He was the only type one that year in kindergarten and then partway through first grade, there was a second one that joined and then ending last year, there was a third one that came to the school. And so then this year, there's still three there this year.

Scott Benner 8:33
So that was that was actually very interesting. You misunderstood my question, but I let you finish Oh, you were telling me it was I just wanted to know if the five year old if this is their first year at school?

Charissa 8:44
Oh, my five year old he's not five yet so he does not start

Scott Benner 8:48
school. Okay, so you see his home so you sent five kids off to school when school started like I

Charissa 8:52
said five off? Yes. And this is our first year with three schools because then we have high school middle school and elementary Do you

Scott Benner 8:59
own your own bus company? Or does this school coming?

Charissa 9:03
Do you have a mega van? So sorta and we did name it adventure bus so sorta, but not really.

Scott Benner 9:09
So before I asked you about before I ask you about the diabetes stuff I want to understand you please don't like I'm not looking for your tax return here. But would you characterize the money that your household makes as amazing average or below average?

Charissa 9:26
Probably average okay.

Scott Benner 9:27
How do you manage this

Charissa 9:31
so I stay at home and we my two oldest boys were the same size so that's really convenient. And then the next one is kind of all where the so like in a lot of ways. We so we live near the Austin Texas area so it's not the cheapest however, we moved from Columbus, Ohio and I'm The job change did come with a raise there. And it has allowed me to be able to continue to stay home. And in my previous life, I used to do hair. So it's not like it would have been an amazing bump. Depending on what area of talent you worked in, and how many hours I wanted to put in, you know what I mean? Yeah. And so my priority was still going to be my family, because, like, I kind of told you already, like, my dream was my family. So the the job was to get me to to that, and then I'll actually I'll probably change careers when I go back to work next year.

Scott Benner 10:43
Just because are you looking forward to going back?

Charissa 10:47
Um, yes, I think so. I, I do enjoy having something that's just for me, I do a lot of volunteering in a lot of different places. So it'll be nice to have all those hours make money. Yeah. What do you know, what did that downlink?

Scott Benner 11:04
What do you think you spend on food in a month,

Charissa 11:07
um, in a month

probably around a little over 1000, maybe 1200.

Scott Benner 11:19
You just feed the kids like it's the army, they get powdered eggs at every meal and a piece of toast.

Charissa 11:24
We do by a cup, we do by about 10 dozen eggs a week. We don't drink a lot of milk. So that's not super crazy, we eat a lot of fresh produce, and like meat. And that's probably the biggest expenses on those things, right. And then really, some of those like, convenient low carb snacks that we want to have like in the bag just to take those are expensive. So we don't like the whole family doesn't eat those. Those are usually just for Titus is my type one. So the rest of them will kind of eat something a little bit different. That's not always true. But you know, for the most part, we just really like normal real food, as opposed to just buying the convenient things,

Scott Benner 12:17
do you find yourself coaching them towards trades, when they talk about what they're going to do when they get older?

Charissa 12:23
Like, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt

Scott Benner 12:27
you, I'm just I'm looking at the sheer number of people, right. And then I'm doing the math on what college costs. And there's sort of, there's like an upper tier level of what college costs, which at this point, is, I'm gonna say between 65 and $75,000 a year, right. And then there's sort of that like, 30 $40,000 range. And then there's, you know, there's lower, obviously, there's some schools that are six grand a year, there's community college, pay a few $1,000 for, but even if you went, even if you went like, I don't know, mid level, like if all of your kids were good students, they're like, I want to go to school and I want to be an accountant or this or that you're looking at like, I don't know, it's like a million dollars to send them all to college. You just so that so my point is when they're like, I want to be an accountant, do you say, you know, wouldn't you prefer being a roofer? Like, that's what I would do. I would just be like, you know, what's underserved in the world plumbing? Would you like to be a plumber? I would

Charissa 13:29
trade school.

Scott Benner 13:30
Yeah. Yeah. I pray to Chris, you just you disappeared for a second. So just start over there. But I'm wondering if you guys talk about college for the kids like you and your husband, you're sitting exhausted in the pile at the end of the day? Like, what do you say to each other about that?

Charissa 13:49
Um, I think that, for the most part, we try not to, to worry about it. Because, you know, at some point, I'll go back to work and if we continue to live like we do now, when I do work, everything I make can go for the colleges and the cars and all the things that we're gearing up for, like 10 seconds, really? Um, but no, I don't really I don't think we do because right now, my doctor, my doctor, my daughter is has been talking about being a doctor and she's the first one so cool, cool, we'll be paying for her while everybody else is also going through forever.

Scott Benner 14:28
You should abandon them that would be the best way to stay take them.

Charissa 14:32
Yeah. I mean, I don't I mean, whatever your I think I'm stumbling over this one a little bit because I think because of my personal like, family stuff like my growing up with my sister as a teacher and then became a principal and she's amazing. Super, like I've done all those things. And then we've also like, and then I did cosmetology school. And really, that's kind of what I did. And then but I also still have like, some regrets of not just going and doing like the nursing side of things that I considered previously. And doing it before I got married and have my kids and, you know, did all of those things. That like, I think because of those types of things, it makes me want to, like encourage them to go be and do whatever it is biggest dream their biggest dreams early. Yeah, and then change their mind later. If that makes sense.

Scott Benner 15:42
Man, I suggest trying to groom the 13 year old into being a bank robber, I think that's get him working.

Charissa 15:49
Ironically, that might be the one who would do it

Scott Benner 15:59
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Charissa 20:23
Yeah, or the nine year old is the topic.

Scott Benner 20:29
How long ago? How long ago was Titus diagnosed?

Charissa 20:34
So it's about two and a half years.

Scott Benner 20:38
Okay, two and a half years ago. So he was, uh, he was pretty young. He was not quite five.

Charissa 20:44
I mean, he was just five I should say, Okay,

Scott Benner 20:48
right. Around five years old. That's fine. Yeah, I just, you know, I don't know exactly when they were born. I'm just guessing from numbers. So yeah, did it how did it present?

Charissa 20:58
Um, so he went the long version, the short

Scott Benner 21:02
version, I want the version you think people would be interested in?

Charissa 21:06
So I honest, I knew nothing about type one diabetes. I have heard of it. But I didn't. I didn't know enough to like watch for symptoms. So they were all there. However, it was right when COVID was happening. It was right. In May. It was when everybody was home for spring break. It was right. In Texas. It was like, you know time to put on all the shorts and change all the clothes and so, you know, even though he was starting to lose weight I and I saw that. He's kind of my beefy guy like we call him the tank. Because he's not chubby. But he is very solid. He has more muscle mass and just general math to him. Then my other kiddos all have made me Yeah, I mean, like he's just always been heavier, bigger guy, even though he's not like, round and like full cheeky, you know what I mean? Like, he's not like chubby, so you didn't like think of like, oh, look, he's finally you know, he's finally like, you know, cutting energy wise catching up to the foodies eaten or something like that. It wasn't like that. However, because his brothers are a little bit more lean. They, when they were outside playing, or we were playing in like the water in the pool in the sandbox, in our backyard, then there. I was, like, I did say, like, man, he's, he must have just had a big growth spurt. He's really kind of shot up. And he's been down more, but he still was not looking like scrawny or anything like that. He just looked thinner, closer to his brother's body type. Just a lot different for him. And then because he was also not wearing pants anymore, he was wearing shorts, like it's not like his clothes seemed a lot different. And then, so we had also been helping our neighbor across the street wanted like a bunch of rocks taken out of like a flower bed. And so we had been over my older boys had been going over and like pulling it all up. And there was a lot. And so we over like a couple days, I would go like check on them. And so we had gone over there and it was kind of hot. And I went over and and I guess I should back up and say like, while we were playing and I noticed like he's kind of like lost a little bit weight. We hadn't really left the house because of COVID. So like there was no stopping to like say, why are you going to the bathroom so many times? Because like, there was he could go whenever he wanted

Scott Benner 23:50
freedom in the house. He didn't notice it happen. Yeah,

Charissa 23:52
there's a, there's a busyness in the house that like people are in and out of the bathroom and coming out of the house all the time that like it was fine. Like, go ahead, do whatever you want. Yeah, and there's water in the refrigerators. And he can go get it whenever but we were also playing outside playing in the pool and sandbox, whatever and it's hot and so we're all drinking a lot of water and because we drink a lot of water in general like we don't drink a lot of milk or juice there was no like asking for it. You can just go get it right now you're free to get the key cups on the counter. So but like when it really kind of came close to like, oh my goodness, I was like man, he kind of feels like he he kind of seemed like something's off and like right before that he had cut his chin. Like I don't remember if they were like jumping playing whatever but he had a pretty good gash and we went to like urgent care and they glued it shot and it didn't really hold. So like that kind of kept opening until part of that was like just getting an infection because like he would play with us but then he'd also come in to like lay on the couch for a little bit. And he's not really like a lay around guy. I do have one of my kiddos is like the lay around. Like he loves to go read a book for a while and not go be wild all the time. But that's not that's not really Titus. That's more you know, that's more that's actually more Lucas, we call them lazy Lou because he wants to go lay around. But so he, he would kind of come in lay down on like I kept taking his temperature and like, I mean, he's on watch, like he doesn't really have anything going on, but like, and then I kept like trying to treat this like his chin because I'm like, maybe he's getting an infection. Like, but again, I was like, I don't really want to take him to the doctor unless we see something. So I just kept trying to clean it and put like, you know, we posted on it, or you know what I mean? Like just trying to take care of it and keep it clean. So anyway, we went over to the neighbor's house, and we're trying to help, like, with the rocks, and I was hoping for a little bit. And he came over with me. And then he was like, I feel like I'm gonna throw up. And I was like, Oh, well, you're probably getting too hot. Let's go home. And so, um, and he drank like some propel while we were out there. And so he, we went back over to the house, gave him something to drink, he started feeling a little bit better. And that was a Saturday. And he laid. You know, he did, we did all the things he didn't really dinner because he didn't really feel great. He had a little bit. And then he went to bed and I checked his temperature. I checked him one more time before we went to sleep. I mean, after you've gotten to sleep, and His room was upstairs, and he shared with his brother. And then so Sunday morning he and my 13 year old is the only one who sleeps in India. But so everybody else had been up and up and moving around for a while. It was about like 930 Because church had come on like the TV, right? Like we were watching. We weren't leaving the house for watching. And I was finishing up making everybody breakfast. I'm like, where's Titus? Somebody go get your brother, please. Because it's time to eat breakfast and we're gonna we're gonna sit and do church together. And my daughter Caylee went upstairs to get him and she came carrying him down the stairs. And she's like, he doesn't feel good. And so she brought him down and like stir them up. And then he was just like breathing really heavy. Like, that's not good. And he wouldn't talk to us like, I'm like, so I like trying to like finish making these eggs and like, I'm stirring it. And I'm mostly just looking at him. And I'm like, I this is not right. Why is he breathing so hard? And why is he not talking? I took his temperature and it was something like 95.8 like, super cold. And she's like, Mom, I found him on the bathroom floor. breathing really hard. And I was like, was he asleep? Did he get up to go? That doesn't feel good. She's like, I don't know if she was asleep or not. He had his eyes open, but he's not talking to me. And so then we're trying to talk to them, or I'm trying to ask them what's wrong. He's not really responding. And I'm like, I don't even care about the stupid eggs. Like I just like, I'm like, I'm done. I don't care if these are done these. Something's not right. So I call a friend of mine, who has she fostered and then adopted a lot of medical kids. I say a lot. She fostered a lot of kiddos, and then she adopted two or three medical kiddos. So they have a lot of stuff at their house. And I'm like, Listen, I need like a pulse ox. And I need an I don't know something's not right. So she came over pretty quick, maybe within like 10 minutes, and we were trying to get like, his, like, you know, numbers and stuff. We just wouldn't read. And I was and he was so cool to head on, like wrapped in a comforter and on the front porch, like in the sun. And, and then he threw up and I'm like, Nope, we're done. I'm not staying here. We're going to the we're going we're taking him in somewhere because this is not okay, we're not talking

Scott Benner 29:09
if it wasn't, if it wasn't for COVID Do you think you would have gone sooner? 100%. Okay. Yeah, I just was wondering what you were, what you were, I mean, because on the floor unresponsive is, you know,

Charissa 29:24
yeah, I mean, like, he wasn't talking he was like stand and he was like, you know, whatever. But like he wasn't like, like, it's more like lethargic. Yeah, kind of thing. But not like not responsive. Like couldn't shake him awake. He was awake and standing talking to us, but not like something else. You know what I mean? If he was just breathing heavy and unresponsive it called 911. And they did. It had been a squad. Yeah, you know what I mean? So but he wouldn't talk to us respond to us that way. And so then he threw up everywhere and I'm like, nope. And I quickly like all over me and all over him like we quickly showered him And me and I started like, and I'm like instructing like my family, like, you go get a bag, you go get a book, you go get whatever, and get it all packed up. And I like pack stuff for him and me, like, I knew we weren't going to just be there for like, an hour, you know what I mean? Like, I knew this was a minute, like, there's something was not right. And so we got to the ER, and, you know, they do all the classic checking on things, but they were trying to get him to like, put his arms up for for an x ray. And he was like, just kind of like, crying because he like really just couldn't. And they gave him an IV in one arm. And he didn't even read. Like, he didn't like, flinch to that. And you're like, No, that's not. That doesn't feel like a normal five year old response. Right, like, and I

Scott Benner 30:50
asked you, of course, like, at that point, having no feedback yet from the doctors. What was going through your head?

Charissa 30:57
Did you have right, it was I was not understanding why they weren't moving faster.

Scott Benner 31:02
Okay. But I just felt like position where you like making things up in your head? Like, what was your, like, your worst nightmare in that moment?

Charissa 31:10
Yeah, I mean, I was like, he's never had asthma. So like, I don't understand the breathing. He isn't talking and they're trying to make him like walk down to the room, like, you know, from triage down to the room. Like, why are we doing triage at all? Like, why are we not just going to a room, this doesn't feel like you guys are understanding how urgent this feels to me. Like, you know what I mean? Like, I was just like, I feel like this feels a lot more urgent to me. I feel like you are not seeing how wrong something is happening here. And I remember being enough in a daze that it was. It was a while later, that one of the nurses said after he had like, after we found out was going on, like one of the nurses said, Okay, he's no longer tech product. But like, I even realized that was happening. You know what I mean? Like, there was enough happening, that I was like, why is he and I think I think people were moving quicker. I think I was I was worried enough that I was like, I feel like y'all aren't doing enough. Why are you not doing more. So they did do a decent amount of things. They did all the lab work, they did all kinds of stuff. And we were kind of waiting and I and he the the really the rapid breathing and the fact also his skin was like really like patchy meaning like, it was kind of like purpley and like, almost had like, circular kind of pattern on it. And all of his extremities were like super cold.

Scott Benner 32:43
Sounds like its circulation was poor. Yes, yeah.

Charissa 32:47
And yeah, it was it was not good. And I think like he had probably gone into DKA, that while we were doing the rock stuff, where I had is going into DK then, and I didn't, I didn't know. And then I let him go to bed. And I I'm like, I cannot believe I let him go.

Scott Benner 33:09
Well, that was his blood sugar. When they finally figured out he had diabetes.

Charissa 33:14
It was still only like in the 380s. Which, to me doesn't sound like insane. Considering, you know, his his agency, I want to say was a 11.2. And then what kind of gets me a little bit is it because they don't do like the urine tests in the pediatricians office like had he just had one at his Wilczek made a scene it was elevated then probably because he had his wheelchair. And then to have a little point to he had to have been prior. You know what I mean? Yeah, how

Scott Benner 33:53
long did it tell him? I'm sorry. I was gonna ask how long did it take him to kind of bounce back after they got him? You know, the treatment he needed?

Charissa 34:01
Yeah, um, so he, we were in the PICU for two days. And then they they moved us to a I want to say they moved us to a regular floor, like that night. On the last like the night of the second day, and then the next morning, they did let us like that's when we kind of moved and then we move and then we left like that evening. So he was there for about three days.

Scott Benner 34:32
All right. This was completely unexpected. There's no other diabetes in your family.

Charissa 34:38
There is nothing there is no type one. I will say like both of my parents like their parents and siblings or their parents and their parents siblings. So going back like decently far right. Didn't live a long time. So I feel like there's a possibility But having been there because they had children, like my grandparents had children that died young, or they had nieces and nephews who died young. So like, I think there's probably a possibility but there's not enough history and knowledge there. To know.

Scott Benner 35:18
That's yeah, that's very interesting. How about other autoimmune issues?

Charissa 35:23
Oh, yeah, we're a mess. Well, my, my niece was probably the first one that we realize, had something. So she has juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. And she was a little like, maybe two when she was diagnosed, and she was diagnosed because she had like, broken bones that were like, Why is she breaking so easily? And then it had been a number of years, because I want to say she's 12. Yes, she's in between two of mine. So she's, she's 12. So it's probably been about 10 years from there. So, you know, she was eight ish, before Titus was diagnosed. And then really, when Titus was diagnosed, that's when, really, and then kind of when we found your podcast. And I started, like, digging in more and wanting to know more than I looked for my own stuff, like what was wrong with like, I have hypothyroid. But I was like, but there's enough weird things that like, I need you to test for other things. And so that was finally, you know, I fought with that for 14 years. And then really last year, is when I was like, can you test me for Hashimotos? And then, my endocrinologist was like, yeah, it came back. Do you have that? See, see?

Scott Benner 36:51
So Well, hold on a second. So you have Hashimotos and the grandparents that you were talking about? Are they on your side of your husband's side? My side, your side? Okay. Go ahead. I'm sorry. Keep that.

Charissa 37:04
So really, and then my, my younger sister has a probably fine to say like a an autoimmune like colon issues. So she can't have any theory of any kind. And that was really diagnosed about two years ago.

Scott Benner 37:21
colitis, maybe? Yes, yeah.

Charissa 37:23
I was trying to remember what it was earlier today. And I was like, I don't know. Don't worry, figure it out. You probably have them in your brain bank.

Scott Benner 37:33
Okay. Your sister has colitis. You have Hashimotos Your son has type one.

Charissa 37:39
Yeah, right. And then we've had like some weird things like pop up. So we did do TrialNet thank you for that. Um, so my 13 year old Emmett has one marker different than Titus. Titus only had had one also, but a different than Titus. And then my nine year old LinkedIn has to, and he was in a trial, which I originally thought, oh, we'll talk about this trial, but it was cancelled about a month ago. And so he has to and they're different than either of the other boys.

Scott Benner 38:23
Okay, so your seven year old has type one, your nine year old has two markers for type one, your 13 year old has one marker for type one. Correct. And they've all been done

Charissa 38:32
and everybody else is clear? Yeah. Okay. Including my husband and I, we all

Scott Benner 38:36
did it. You have Hashimotos Your sister has colitis. And wow, that is a lot. You okay,

Charissa 38:45
and then, and then really like my older sister has just recently been like, referred to a rheumatologist. So she's just trying to discover what's going on there. And then my oldest two have now been referred to rheumatologist to try to figure out what's kind of happening there. And we've had a few different markers of different things, not type one, but other autoimmune things come up that we're in the discovery phase of now. What are they trying to figure out? What's happening?

Scott Benner 39:14
Your older your two older ones.

Charissa 39:17
So I met had, so he's 13. But over last year, he kind of got like, like sports suddenly became super hard. And he's always been like very athletic and you know, do his things. And just super busy and you know what I mean? But he could not keep up and cross country. He could not keep up in football and we're like, Are you are you not trying? Like what? And actually I feel really bad because I felt frustrated that he wasn't trying hard enough. Because I was like, why? Why don't you care? You said you really wanted to do this. And now you're not working as hard. Now, I didn't really say to him as much, you know, to me, and I try not to be that way. But, but I did say like, you know, are you okay? Because like, you seem you seemed a little more tired today, you know, do you mean, but I really noticed that we do. My daughter is a swimmer. And we it started because we started summer league swimming. And so all of my kids do some really. So for the youngest, he still more of a thinker than a swimmer. And so during summer league swim, that's when it really clicked in my head that something was not quite right, because he couldn't hit last year's times. And normally, like last year's times, you kind of hit that and like the first week, and then you improve on your times, all summer. That all the meats because you have meat, like almost every weekend for like, six weeks,

Scott Benner 40:57
what are his complaints,

Charissa 41:00
he was just not able to keep up. Like he just couldn't keep, like, he had no endurance, I guess that's really like, the biggest thing there. So like, he'd be fine. And like the normal short spurts, he also has like ADHD, right. So like, he's also a very, he can be very busy. And then, so it's sometimes harder, I think, maybe sometimes a little bit harder to see there. Because if he was like, if you if he was like a little bit more, even all of the time, I think it would have been a little bit easier to spot but because he's him, you kind of have to like, you know, I thought maybe he was just like calming down a little bit more. You know what I mean? But then I was like, maybe he just can't keep up. But over last school year, he got everything. I mean, he had COVID and flu, and strep, and colds, and he got mono. Like he had everything. And so I think mono is kind of what we assumed was playing a big part in it. But then I was like, I need more blood work. Like please, please do more laps, like please look into it more. And so when we did that, and our pediatrician was really good about like, I need, I now need you to do this, you might think I'm crazy, but let's just let's just humor me here. And like, let's give it a shot. And so she will. And so that's what they did. And she was like, Okay, I see some markers here. Now we're going to refer you to a rheumatologist for that.

Scott Benner 42:46
What did she say?

Charissa 42:49
Um, it was.

Scott Benner 42:58
Chris, you have too many. There's too much. There's too much happening in your head. I think you should just lock them in a closet and leave for four days. It leaves them with

Charissa 43:09
did I just make people to break them? It's not fair. I was just trying to do my part to make the world a more beautiful.

Scott Benner 43:15
Well, does it feel like that? Do you feel like I have questions. But let me take a sidebar for a second. So do you feel let down because you talked about church on TV. And that makes me feel like churches important to you? Because if I had to get to church through television, I definitely wouldn't do it. So that seems like a commitment. And it is important. Yeah. So you felt like you were is that right? Like you felt like you were populating the earth. And now you're spending your time worrying that your son can't run or swim and that your other kid has diabetes, and the other one has two markers and like it, do you feel? I don't know what the word would be. I need you to tell me how it feels.

Charissa 43:57
Um, I think I know what you're saying. But no, I don't feel ripped off. I don't really feel like that so much. I do feel a little bit like I wish I wasn't making their life harder because I didn't know I had these things. But I don't know that it would have stopped me from having them because I want them you know what I mean? Like I want them in my life and I feel like they make my life better. And I feel like as a family we are strong. And and I like the idea of what we can do when we go into the world and we try to look people right so like I don't know that I would have changed anything. I think I maybe as a young person was a little bit more naive as to what life was going to be like when you got old Sir,

Scott Benner 45:00
yeah, it's a very, it's a very hard question to answer. Because if I said to you or to anybody or to me, you know, here's what life is like with this issue, whatever it is. And you don't have the context of knowing your children at that point. Like, if I could take you back in a time machine and say, Look, you don't have kids, you have no connection to them. I know, this is what you want, you want to make a family, etc. But here are the things that are going to happen. I think that the 23 year old you are, I don't know, however old you were when you were really considering having children. 25.

Charissa 45:32
Ironically, 23 is when I had my first one,

Scott Benner 45:34
I was doing the math like vaguely like, so like, so. Yeah, thank you, that you. I wonder how that you would have answered? Because I don't know, that version of me would answer either. And I don't also want to articulate on the podcast that if you gave it to do over again, I'd say no, this isn't worth it. Because that's hurtful for people to hear, who have, you know, Taiwan or my kid or whoever, you know? And I don't I don't mean it that way. There are two different. I mean, there's no way to do what I'm proposing, right. You can't actually go back and ask yourself that question before you know this. So knowing what I know, now, I wouldn't, I wouldn't make a decision that led to art not being here. Like I just wouldn't do that. But I take your point, you know what I mean? Like, it's, it's a tough thing to swallow, because people are now you have these people you love, and now they're struggling. And you're not, it's not like it's not the kind of struggle where you're just like, Oh, you have a headache, take this aspirin, it'll go away. It's the kind of struggle where you don't even know what's happening. And you go to a doctor, and the doctor is like, I don't know, go to a different doctor. And that's a long road. I mean, of all the kind of fascinating things that you've said or not said so far today. When I asked you what the markers were that sent your 13 year old to rheumatology, you couldn't think of it? And that's not because you're not paying attention. That's because you're overwhelmed. And there's a lot going on. Yeah, I think it sounds to me, so but what are his complaints? Like? Just the tiredness? I mean, did they check in for hypothyroidism? Or Hashimotos?

Charissa 47:09
Yeah, I while I make them always check, thyroid, and all those kinds of things, like, every year, at well checks all the time, just because that's how I, how I am it was the AMA heater was the

Scott Benner 47:22
what are their TSH has come back like, um, because a lot of times doctors will tell you, they're in range, but they're high. And then you can mitigate that and feel better.

Charissa 47:34
Right? They, so a lot of times they'll call us and tell tell us, right? And so when I asked what the numbers were specifically, I can't tell you what the numbers are at the moment, because we've been away enough from those appointments, right? Like my kids are. February, January, December. I have one in June, and then September birthday. So really, it's been closer to a year. And I don't have a great memory. Especially like for some of those types of little things. Like I know where to go look for it. Because I know I don't remember I keep it somewhere.

Scott Benner 48:14
Listen, if I was you, I remember either door. Yeah.

Charissa 48:19
But I don't remember where he's going with that. See that one? No, it's

Scott Benner 48:24
fine. Well, I was just asking, like, what if their TSH numbers were coming back over to

Charissa 48:28
Oh, yeah, I do remember like asking about it. Close enough to where I felt like it needed to be that I was like, okay, that's fine. Because they don't like I wish it was like in the patient portal where you can just go look at it. And then I could like screenshot it and save it in there and look at all of them my own self, but the pediatrician specifically will just call and go over all of the numbers and discuss it, which I do appreciate, because then we can talk about it, as opposed to just kind of looking and we can discuss what we want to do from there. Yeah. But if you forget, or you don't write it down, or you're somewhere else, then then you don't really have a great way. Or if you're like on a podcast and you're like I want to talk about the specific detail.

Scott Benner 49:17
One of my one of my anxiety points is as you're searching for the answer to a problem, I always think what if we already found the answer and we're not looking at it? Right? And like, Dude, I mean that it's that idea of wasted time. Like what if we did a blood test got this answer, and just didn't like it didn't like ring the right bells for people so it sits there written down on a piece of paper the answer to your problem and now you're moving forward to another doctor, another doctor, another doctor. And here it is way back here the answer. I always I always end especially for a person like yourself who's managing six kids? And you know, there's health issues kind of spread around you have them yourself. Like, how much time can you actually spend sitting down poring over all this stuff trying to go, hey, well, what does this mean? Somebody addressed this plus the way. We talked to doctors, you know, the communication process, you sit in, you go and you sit down in this in this thing, and they look at everything and go, Well, these tests were okay. And then you just go okay, and then you write those off then like, alright, well, that wasn't the issue. We'll go to the next thing. But I mean, just being so so your, your 13 year old for an example, his his complaints are just he's tired, and he's not performing the way he used to?

Charissa 50:43
Mm hmm. Well, that's really what I saw for him. For sure, yeah. I'm sure there's probably other things that he's not discussing. Okay. But that's what I see. For him. My daughter, I saw more like arthritis see kinds of things for her. And then a lot of her stuff was really kind of triggered when when she broke her fingers. And then she was allergic to her past. And then since then, she is super responsive to anything. It's gotten a little bit better, but like, right after she had like, a contact dermatitis from her cast, like her arm was swelling above her cast, super vague, and we had to make them take it off early.

Scott Benner 51:30
Having an auto immune response to the cast.

Charissa 51:33
Correct? Yeah. And then, but really, like, we went to a bunch of doctors, repeatedly, we ended up going to an ER finally went to a dermatologist. And then like, then we floated around for three years trying to figure out like, why is it and then not too long ago, I was like, Wait a minute. Doesn't this sound like an autoimmune response? It was triggered by something. And then so from there, and then I was like, and then you know, she's had some joint issues, she'll, she'll kind of have like swollen knees, she's six foot and 14 at the moment. So like, she and she's very athletic. Like, she's a swimmer. But she also did cross country and she's built very. I mean, you can tell that she's so in six days a week, and she runs and she works out and she Tracy eat really healthy. And you know what I mean? When we first

Scott Benner 52:27
set out the knees, they're swollen or they warm to the touch.

Charissa 52:31
Sometimes there'll be warm, red, swollen, and then sometimes like her hands, so it's more knees in hand, sometimes elbows will play in it. It definitely is affected by weather. Cold. Like when we went to Colorado A couple years ago for Thanksgiving, she was like, just so at every time we'd go outside, and like plan the snow and she you know what I mean? Like, so that's quite a lot more closer to like, my husband has psoriatic arthritis. And so we were like, Okay, maybe you're getting like maybe you actually have something more like that, which is, you know, also autoimmune. And so, okay, well, maybe that's kind of also happening there. Is she?

Scott Benner 53:17
Is she single rheumatory. Physician?

Charissa 53:21
Yes, yes, yes, she's she. So the rheumatologist did a whole bunch of stuff, including a lot of genetic testing. And then we see him again in middle of September, to kind of go over everything. But he also sent her to like an ophthalmologist, he sent her for a CAT scan of her hands, and an MRI of her hands. And also to like a specific allergist. For kind of looking at why she reacted to the cast, because she also gets like a contact dermatitis looking rash as opposed to more hives. But like, for weird things, like sometimes she'll like eat peanut butter, and we're like, oh, this brand like she can't eat just anymore, right? Like that's not a brand that she can eat. The rest of the family could eat it but she can't. So we were all natural peanut butter. Well now even some of those she can't for like maybe it's the oil in the peanut butter. Because she can do like PD fish. She can toss that like a protein shake. And that's okay. So it's like there's some weird things there, which she just found out she's allergic to Koloff honey, which is a pine. And in resin is like the biggest thing that it's in. And it's in like paints and makeups and all different things. So I don't know, we'll see where we are from there. But they both had that like definite high marker of that as a theater.

Scott Benner 54:57
Right? Well, I mean I'm glad everybody's being seen, then you're seems like you're moving towards something. I mean it. The red knees, the heat, the cold and hot. Like that does sound and there's RA in your family. Right. So, I mean, that seems like half the doctors talked about what they would do to try to help her if this is what it is.

Charissa 55:19
Yeah, they kind of told her like, at least tentatively that like it's an idiopathic arthritis at the moment, which is more like, for from what I've read, like more for like, kids who are like diagnosed like in that team area. And so at the moment, it's still more of a kind of treat the symptoms a little bit more, but it does have like some skin element to it for her, which is more on her scalp. Which is super fun when you're a teenager, you know. So but we just got a new, like treatment from the from the dermatologist. And that seemed to actually really help significantly. That's more for more for Soria for psoriasis, then just eczema, which is kind of what they were treating it like before, but they can kind of go hand in hand.

Scott Benner 56:22
Well, yeah, there's a lot also on top of all that, ADHD, there's some an NIH writings about it. One of them is a personal history and maternal history of autoimmune diseases were associated with increased risk of ADHD. And several authors have proposed associations between ADHD and inflammatory mechanisms due to positive findings regarding inflammation related genes. So it's really mean that's a lot. It's just if if juice, are you okay, I asked you earlier and you blew right past it, but

Charissa 56:56
Oh, am I okay? Yeah, I'm good. Yeah, okay. I don't I think I didn't even hear you. I'm sorry. No,

Scott Benner 57:04
no, don't worry. I just I wasn't sure if you were didn't hear me or you were just like, I'm not okay. And I don't need to say it.

Charissa 57:09
I just use okay, what's okay? Even mean? I'm not even sure at this

Scott Benner 57:13
point. You know, I'm the most stunning thing you've said is that you help your neighbor pick up rocks, my neighbor is. I don't think I've ever shared this, but we live across the street from I don't mean this, like, in a bad way. But she's so old, this very, very old woman, like when we moved in 20 years ago. And I first saw her I thought, oh, that lady will be dead soon. Like, that's how old she is, you know what I mean? And, and she lives with her nephew. But if she's in her 80s, he's, you know, in his 50s. And he was sort of, he's the he used to be the guy in town who would, you know, kind of show up, like passed out places. And that doesn't seem that doesn't seem to be anymore. But they're very, I don't know the word. I can't explain the word other than just say that the piece of property they have. They have filled in every square inch with a bush or a tree. Like no one's going to buy this house unless they want an arboretum Plater. They spend every waking hour tending to the, to the grounds. And besides the fact that she will sometimes scream and yell at you, when you're driving in and out of your driveway for reasons that are completely innocuous. Like you're not doing Vicky come out of the you come out of your driveway, stop at the end go to turn. And you just hear ask. You're like, Okay, we've never we've never spoken we don't know each other like I tried waving and talking in the beginning, but it just didn't matter. They wouldn't respond. Anyway, I tell you all this to tell you that there are this is not an infrequent thing. But frequently, she will go outside with a heavy pair of metal kitchen shears and cut the weeds at ground level with them. And she'll she'll spend days doing it. Like just and there. There was this one time. We were all up late. Hold on. I swear this happened. Let me get a drink. You were in the house. We watched a movie. It was late. Two o'clock in the morning. You're closing everything down. The house was getting quiet. And all we could hear was like Ting Ting Ting and everybody's like, what is that? And we got quiet like it's outside. It's outside. So we start looking out the windows because you know what the hell Ting Ting. And then finally one of the kids goes, Oh my God. Now it's after two o'clock in the morning. She's across the street cutting the weeds with their scissors. Oh, that's what the thinking was. So when you were like, we helped our neighbor pick up rocks, I was like, oh, people talk to their neighbors. They liked them enough to do. I mean, I would like her if she didn't like, creep the enemy if I'm being honest. But she I know, she's like, she's like a Scooby Doo bad guy. You know what I mean?

Charissa 1:00:22
I mean, that's pretty creepy. It is very, I don't like that. I can't

Scott Benner 1:00:26
even tell you the story of one time my kids were playing in the driveway. And she just randomly started screaming at them. And I think I had had enough. So I went to the end of the driveway. And I had harsh words for her, which seemed to push her back into the house. And when it was over, I turned I looked at my daughter's friend, and she was like, oh, oh, and I'm like, sorry, I didn't mean to sorry. We just I'd like she can't yell at you guys. Like, it's like, you're not doing anything. You're just existing on our property. And she's just, I, there's something clearly, let me be honest, there's something very wrong, you know what I mean? So most of the times, they're innocuous. And every once in a while, they're just like, out of their minds anyway. Let me ask you here at the end, how your son's managing with the type one and how you're making out with it. That is it? Did you get certain technologies? How did you start? Like, how's it going?

Charissa 1:01:26
Yeah, we got the Dexcom, G six, pretty, pretty quick, not quite as immediately as I wish we would have looking back. I think the whole like, put something on your kid was this like was a moment for my husband, like when we were still in the hospital. But within like a month or so we got it. And it's magic. Everybody needs one. And then he's on the Omni pod now. And he has been for I guess it'll be two years in November. So and that's really been really very, very helpful. I wanted him on the on a pump, simply because his, we needed to be able to adjust his basil, we needed to be significantly lower at school and significantly higher, at night and at home. Like we needed to be able to double or triple it and be able to step it up and step it back. It almost looks like stair steps, like when you're looking at the line. And that was super helpful. He's also for the most part, adrenaline still makes him dropped more than it makes him rise. I don't I don't know why his body wants to try to kill them when it's supposed to try to save them.

Scott Benner 1:02:52
I've heard other people say that, by the way that like that fear and anxiety where some people get a bump up makes them crash down.

Charissa 1:02:59
Yeah, so like, for him, like when he walks into the school building. His his, his his basil. He's around like 11 units during the summer. And as soon as we hit like school, he can probably go down, like almost a full unit just for being at school during the day, and sometimes even a little bit less. And we don't necessarily always have to cover every car, we're like at home, I still would cover like to, you know what I mean? Like the only time I'm like, you might be okay is if you're like at five and you're eating something that says it's one I'm like, okay to eat that. That one thing right now. You know what I mean? Otherwise, no, we're, we have to cover that. So, but at school, you might even be able to go to like, five or whatever, and not have to necessarily worry so much about it. So it's weird. And then the second he walks out of the building, you know, like at three o'clock or whatever he that, like that moment is when his Basal will go from, you know, whatever it is. It'll it'll, it'll double for him to walk out the door.

Scott Benner 1:04:19
I'm sorry. So while he's at school, he almost needs the equivalent of like five units a day but away from school. It's more like 11 Total Basal.

Charissa 1:04:28
Well, during during the school year, he gets around like closer to nine and 9.4 or five or something, right? That's about what it is with all the adjustments, but like, during the summer he was 11 Solid. Just just Basal

Scott Benner 1:04:47
so when he's not, not at school, he's getting like point four or five an hour on average, but when he's that you lose a couple of of units on that total Basal and most of it goes away during the day too. I'm always in school.

Charissa 1:05:01
Yeah, I mean, he'll go down to about like point two, five, during during different parts of the day, like during recess and lunch?

Scott Benner 1:05:08
Because he's super active at school.

Charissa 1:05:11
Um, yeah, I mean, he'll play hard when he's at recess. He's not wonder like, kind of do nothing but like a though it will need to start almost as soon as he walks in the building to drop down. And as soon as he walks out, he will start rising. The second he comes out of the building because he starts relaxing. And then when he falls asleep, it's significantly more than like, as soon as he falls asleep,

Scott Benner 1:05:36
every time that is super interesting, because Arden's exactly the same. The opposite. Like she needed, she needed more at school, and the minute she leaves left school, her blood sugar started to drop.

Charissa 1:05:47
Well, when you were talking about that on episode previous, I just did whatever you said their

Scott Benner 1:05:51
opposite. The backwards. Yeah, like I just said, I was like, that's that makes sense.

Charissa 1:05:55
Okay, let's just do opposite of what he just said, well, then that will probably work. And then it kind of did.

Scott Benner 1:06:00
Good. Well, yeah, that's really something I, I just, I'm not sure what to say? Or do you look at your other two with markers and wonder if they're gonna get type on?

Charissa 1:06:14
Um, sometimes even the ones that don't have markers every now and again, I'll be like, I feel like I need to just poke your finger real quick here. Because I think that is always now in the back of your head. You know, like, Are we are we sure we're good? Like, you just went to the bathroom? Like 18 times? Give it UTI? Are you trying to have something? You know, like, what's going on? Or, or just have a bunch to drink? That's also a thing. But it's still a little bit. There. I don't worry about it, though. I'm not, I guess I'm not afraid of it anymore. I think if you'd asked me that first year, I'd have been afraid of it more, but now I'm like, Well, I mean, we know what we're gonna do, and they're more ready to like take it on, even though their own selves, then then we would have been and now they have somebody. We had nobody until halfway through Tituss first grade year to even know another kid who had type one. Like we just, we had nobody near us. And the podcast was, like, legit are my best friend. Like it was the place I could go to know. Someone or something. Oh, that's great.

Scott Benner 1:07:33
I'm glad. I'm glad to hear that. Thank you for telling me. Do you have? Do you think that the type, the type one doesn't scare you as much because you now have perspective about elements that don't seem to have answers? Like I always think one is at least it has an answer.

Charissa 1:07:52
Yeah, I think I, I 100%. I do feel like it does. And I don't. It was an answer. It was a quick answer to Right. Like as soon as, as soon as I knew for sure that something was wrong. You know, it wasn't. It wasn't very long. Once we were in the hospital. I think we were really only there for probably two hours in the ER before. Literally the ER doctor came running and it was like, I know what's wrong. We're canceling this ultrasound. He has type one. I'll be right back. And then she was like, Okay, I'm coming back. Let's talk about it. And you're going up to the PICU. And like, it was scary, but at the same time, like, Okay, we had an answer. Yeah. We've had other things come up the we're like, okay, we still don't have an answer. What's going on there?

Scott Benner 1:08:42
I find that Yeah. Yeah,

Charissa 1:08:45
that feels that feels harder than okay. Well, this will be the next thing. And we know what to watch for. So that doesn't feel as scary.

Scott Benner 1:08:54
Yeah, no, I It's a weird thing to say. But I I understand how you feel and I agree. Yeah. Wow. Okay. Well, I appreciate you doing this. This was it's enlightening. There's a lot going on in your in your life, obviously. And I have one last question though. What was the first thing like, was it Titus is type one. When When was the first thing first time you thought oh, one of my kids has an issue.

Charissa 1:09:25
Yeah, I swear it was not long before Titus was diagnosed that I said, How do we have six kids and nothing's wrong with anyone. Like there should be something happening. I feel like that's thing that should be happening. That's doesn't feel normal. So I think maybe I was just like living in a happy little bubble for a minute. And then now it's like, you know, I think that yeah, so Titus was the first okay. Like, big thing and then I feel like honest flea, his diagnosis helped us to kind of look into other things, not just for my household, like my personal home, but like, also for my siblings, and my, you know, people started kind of looking a little bit more, and I have friends who reach out to me and say, Oh, I have this friend, they're having these symptoms. What should I do here? You know, I think you should call your doctor and go, you know, ask for a test here. And if you're super worried about tonight, then go get a glucometer. And check it out real quick. And, you know, or if you're super concerned, and you want to come over, like come over, I will check it. So I've met people in town at like, the local, you know, little Dairy Queen, or, or whatever. And then like, Hey, let me do a finger poke in the car, see how you don't have to worry, you know, so? Or, you know, and you do or please go get a Dexcom or, you know, whatever it is, you know, it's been nice to, I guess, have a community and being willing being able to help a little bit more

Scott Benner 1:11:08
that way. Are you saying that the things that you're identifying in your family are helping other members of your family identify things, too? Yes. So they have complaints that they were ignoring, but now you've given like, voice to it? And they're like, Oh, that is how we feel, too.

Charissa 1:11:25
Yeah, like, what if what if that's an autoimmune thing that's connected to a bunch of things as opposed to your your leg hurts? And that is that shouldn't be, you shouldn't have to worry, that shouldn't hurt for 30 years. You know, what do you mean? Like, what is there's more to it than that. And then, and then also, like how we advocate at a doctor's office has changed significantly, like, because of trying to do type one, right? Like, I want a pump, and I want it before you said, I'm ready. So like, Let me prove to you that I'm ready, here's all the things, here's what I'm gonna do. And here's why I need it, I need to be able to change the basil, I need to be able to just sit here and here and here. I need to be able to keep him in range here. And so, you know, being able to go in and say like, this is what I want, and why. And then going into my doctor's office being like, now for myself, I need, I need you to check these things. And I want you to adjust my medicine here. Also, I've changed this for myself, and this is working. So I need to make this adjustment. And then you know, same thing, like when I call my mom, I'm like, hey, you need to say this to your doctor, don't wait for them to call you call them. Tell them what you need. And if they're not listening, new doctor, that's the next step. Well, no, no,

Scott Benner 1:12:44
that's really, that's, that's excellent that you're doing that and helping people to, to kind of advocate for themselves better and for yourself, but it's something good has come from it. It's a it's helping other people realize what their what their ailments might be. And hopefully, they'll they'll do what you're doing and chase it down and see what they can figure out.

Charissa 1:13:05
Yeah, I mean, if you don't know that you need to push you just trust this trust a system that is not quite there, then.

Scott Benner 1:13:15
Dr. Sachs okay. Okay, great. We just how many

Charissa 1:13:18
do they see you live with it? They don't. Yeah. So I was telling them. I was

Scott Benner 1:13:22
just telling Jenny yesterday that my mom's blood pressure went up. And the doctor was like, Oh, we're just going to give her more medication. And you know, it didn't work. And so I said, Well, what are you going to do now? And the nurse said, Well, your mom's got heart problems, like, you know, these things don't get better. They get worse. And I was like, Oh, wow, they gave up how about that? And I called the doctor and I said due respect, your general practitioner said, my mom, a cardiologist sent a cardiologist. The cardiologist was like, oh, yeah, there's new newer medication that works better, we'll switch her and in like two days, her blood pressure is coming down. But the other doctor would have never known to do that and wouldn't have asked any more questions. He did this he in his brain he went this is the problem. This is the answer I have at my disposal. That didn't work. Oh, well. That was it. Yeah, you know, it's just you do really have to keep pushing for yourself somebody somebody might know something.

Charissa 1:14:17
There Yeah. And keep looking until it until you have it you know, I did a bunch of I did a bunch of reading after tidy Titus was diagnosed, I wanted to know everything. Right away. Your podcast was recommended pretty quickly on like Facebook, but it took me a minute to get there, which I think was like, the stupidest thing I ever did. As far as like weight because I expected it to not be so much knowledge. So now when I recommend to people I don't just say like, Hey, listen to the podcast. I'm like, You need to listen to this episode. And then these things or goals in the 411 which will tell you where you want to start from there like this area. or that area and go find your questions answered there. Because it's not just a listen to people chat all the time, although that's kind of what I did. But there's so much learning there that it was beyond and I spent hours and hours like, I don't know that I did anything else for probably six months straight. Like, it didn't watch TV. I didn't read anything else. All I did was like podcasts was on while I was painting and cooking and cleaning, and washing, you know, like, whatever I was doing Sure, it was on, and I was learning. And it was amazing.

Scott Benner 1:15:36
I'm glad Wow, that's that's really makes me happy to know. You don't you know, you don't do something like this and hope that it doesn't. It doesn't help people. So it's nice to hear it. Actually, I got a I get an email when somebody leaves a new review for the podcast. And one popped up while you were talking. It's so funny how much it it mimics what you just said. She said in this. In this review, I just started listening to Episode One. I'm already hooked. It is hard to find a trustworthy podcast that specializes in type one. So, you know, that's what we're trying to do. So it's nice that it's reaching people that way. It really is. Chris, I really appreciate you doing this. I'm going to I have I'm up against time today I have to jump into another thing. But I want to thank you for for taking the time to tell us your story and the story of your giant family of eight p of eight people in your family. My little crew Yeah, no kidding. Well, I wish you all the best.

Charissa 1:16:36
Thank you very much got it was a lot of fun.

Scott Benner 1:16:44
Let's thank Karissa for coming on the show and sharing her story. And let's thank cozy earth.com for offering 35% off sitewide with the offer code juice box at checkout. And don't forget to check out speaking of checking out contour next one.com forward slash juice box like I said earlier and I sincerely mean this, you're using a blood glucose meter. The information that comes back from it is important to you. The least you could do for yourself is make sure you're getting a really good accurate meter contour next one.com forward slash juicebox. Thank you so much for listening. I appreciate it very much. Don't forget to check out the private Facebook group. links in the show notes links to juicebox podcast.com. I'll be back very soon with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast