#966 CSI Diabetes
Haley is a crime scene investigator who has type 1 diabetes.
You can always listen to the Juicebox Podcast here but the cool kids use: Apple Podcasts/iOS - Spotify - Amazon Music - Google Play/Android - Radio Public, Amazon Alexa or wherever they get audio.
+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
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 966 of the Juicebox Podcast.
Hawley is an adult living with type one diabetes, and she's a crime scene investigator. It's pretty cool. We're gonna find out all about it in just a moment. While you're listening. Don't forget not to remember not to forget. That doesn't make any sense. While you're listening. Please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your healthcare plan, or becoming bold with insulin. If you like comfortable things like bedsheets, towels and clothing, go to cozy earth.com. If you see something you like, use the offer code juice box at checkout to save 40% You and I could be drinking the same drink every morning I drink ag one and you could to drink ag one.com forward slash juice box. And for your newly diagnosed folks. Don't forget to check out the bold beginning series. It's available at juicebox podcast.com. You can also find a list the feature tab of the private Facebook group. And of course, in every audio app under the sun. That's where you can find the podcast everywhere you get audio
this episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by Omni pod Omni pod makes the Omni pod five and the Omni pod dash find out more Get started today at Omni pod.com forward slash juice box you want to learn about the Omnipod five or the Omnipod dash, my site has it all. You can even ask to go on a test drive with the AMI pod on the pod.com forward slash juicebox. When you support the Juicebox Podcast by clicking on the advertisers links, you are helping to keep the show free and plentiful. I am certainly not asking you to buy something that you don't want. But if you're going to buy something, or use the device from one of the advertisers, getting your purchases set up through my links is incredibly helpful. So if you have the desire or the need, please consider using Juicebox Podcast links to make your purchases.
Hawley 2:27
So my name is Hayley, and I am a type one diabetic of about four and a half years now. I don't remember the exact diagnosis say no, it was July or August of 2018. And I am a crime scene investigator. I've been doing that for about as long I think I was in my job for about two weeks when I was diagnosed. How old are you now? All right, I'm 31 now, so I was 26 at diagnosis.
Scott Benner 2:54
So you're on because I was like Does anybody have a cool job? You're like I do. So I want to find out about that. But first I want to understand about being diagnosed right as the new job starts. So did that make it more difficult to figure out? Because your life? Yeah, kind of twisted up I imagine.
Hawley 3:15
For sure. So I was a 911 dispatcher before I was a crime scene investigator. And I started getting sick. During that job, I worked 12 hour shifts. And I was drinking about a gallon of water or more per 12 hour shift and of course, having to pee every five seconds. So I knew something was wrong. And I had gone to a doctor in about March of 2018 through some bloodwork, because I thought it was my thyroid due to some family history with the thyroid. And that doctor kind of blew me off. And he didn't run all the tests. He didn't run a n a one C tests. He really just told me it was probably sleep apnea that I was so tired and sent me on my way. So I continue to get a lot sicker. I lost a lot of weight. And when I started my new job, I was having trouble walking down the halls without being out of breath. I was holding the walls to walk. And they were like we're too concerned to call you out to crime scene. So we're not going to do that until you figure out what's going on. So it kind of hindered my job in the very beginning. Mostly because the doctors weren't listening to me,
Scott Benner 4:20
Haley, there's no way that people weren't in a room with the door closed going, hey, who hired this one? Yeah, she's she's holding the walls. I mean, okay, so because of family history, you were thinking thyroid,
Hawley 4:39
correct? Well, that's every female on my mom's side of the family has a thyroid issue.
Scott Benner 4:44
Okay. And the doctor, I love this, by the way, whatever is trendy, is what they is what they go with. You have sleep apnea. Do you Has anyone else been through? Hell? Yeah, I'm talking to everybody now but whose dentist had suddenly become like a shaman because I used to go to the dentist. They were like, here, let me fix your teeth. And now they say things like, Oh, you're this looks swollen? And are you doing this enough? I'm like, Are you? Are you branching out or something? I was like, just, you know, teeth, please. But my kids, what is it your people have taken out of their throat? Oh my god. Haley your tonsils? Yes. Every time Arden goes to the to the dentist, do you have to have trouble breathing? And she's like, No. Hi. So have your tonsils are very big. And she goes, Yeah, I can breathe fine. It just, it's constantly like that. So I love that the doctor was like, you know what's trendy right now? Sleep apnea. Because cuz, you know, Haley at 27 You probably had sleep apnea.
Hawley 5:52
Right? With no family history. Yeah, no other symptoms.
Scott Benner 5:56
And by the way, I see a photo of you and your little idea of your thing here. You seem like you're a, like a healthy weight. And you know what I mean? Like, there's just nothing about you that says probably can't breathe when she lays down. But okay, anyway, you're stumbling around at work, having just gotten this job. How do you get that? How do you go from being a dispatcher to that? Like, what's the LEAP there?
Hawley 6:19
Yeah. So you know, when I was in college, I knew I wanted to work in criminal justice got a bachelor's in sociology, because my college didn't have a major in criminal justice. And I interned for a police department and a private security firm, during my four years in my undergrad. And I just needed a foot in the door to kind of figure out where I wanted to go in my career. And thankfully, the agency I'd interned for, they were hiring dispatchers. So I was like, You know what, my mom's done it. So I'm going to ask her if she thinks I can do it. She said, Yes. And so I went for it. I did that for four years, while getting a master's online. And my initial goal had been the Behavioral Science Unit of the FBI, which is why I went and got that master's degree. And in the process of being a dispatcher, I learned, you know, that you, you don't get to know the end, you have to hang up the phone and pick up the next call, and you never get to hear what happened. And you don't get to be involved, as much, at least in any kind of investigative work. And that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to get out in the field, I wanted to help people on the investigation side. So I just started applying to all the crime scene jobs I could apply to. And without any experience in that field, it was very difficult to get one. And so I was very blessed to get the job that I do have. And I have attempted the FBI. I do think that the diabetes diagnosis does hinder that, though, because they told me I needed more education and experience. But I don't want a PhD.
Scott Benner 7:49
I'm gonna say something out loud here. I know that people from the Secret Service, listen, so would you want to work there?
Hawley 7:57
I have actually applied to them as well. And that one did not work out either. But I just figured maybe the federal was not my way to go. Since it wasn't working out for me.
Scott Benner 8:08
You think it really has something to do with the diabetes?
Hawley 8:11
I don't think that the Secret Service did I know that the FBI has been sued for something like that before? And it just seemed very broad of you just need more education and experience and like, okay, maybe experience you know, I'm a supervisor now. So I'm starting to get some new experience. But education wise, you don't even need a master's to be federal. You just need a bachelor's?
Scott Benner 8:34
How far did you get through that secret service? Like, isn't that initial, like months and months of background checks and stuff like that? Did you go through that?
Hawley 8:43
Yeah, so I got to just before like the really extensive background checks, so I did the polygraph. I did the initial interviews and stuff. And you know, a three hour polygraph is not easy for somebody who's never done one. So as the most nervous I've ever been in my entire life, even though I've literally done nothing to fail one.
Scott Benner 9:04
So, three, three continuous hours.
Hawley 9:08
Yeah, I mean, there's short breaks right in between, but I was there for three hours. Yeah.
Scott Benner 9:13
How long did you do that?
Hawley 9:15
That Yeah, so the polygraph itself was three hours. And the process itself took maybe three months before I got the email saying no,
Scott Benner 9:24
was and I'm sorry, I was just trying to figure out that was like recently in the last year, so Oh,
Hawley 9:30
gotcha. Gotcha. Yeah. So that was, I believe that was the end of last year. Okay. Because it was before I got promoted to supervisor so I was before February at least,
Scott Benner 9:41
you sound very motivated to like you. I mean, like there's, you already had to go through so much just to make the first leap. Like you said it was difficult to get the job without any experience. I mean, are you happy where you are now or do you think you'll keep pushing to try to broaden?
Hawley 9:59
Yeah, I mean, I'm I'm super happy right now, like I said, I was promoted in February. And it's, it's a difficult job to kind of move around in sometimes, because people who get into the crime scene field don't leave typically. So you have to wait for somebody to either leave or retire, you know, and then they've only been there a few years, and it might be 15 years before you can become a supervisor without leaving that agency. And again, it's hard to other agencies to, but it's it's definitely rewarding work. And the agency where I work at isn't like, one of those big, big cities where there's a homicide every night. So I, the one thing that it does lack is kind of, you know, I need to have that training so that when it does happen, I'm prepared for those things. Yeah. But I've kind of taken a step back, you know, with these knows from the federal agencies and trying to reevaluate what I what I do want for the future.
Scott Benner 10:52
That's cool. I mean, I thought it would be easy to move out, because I figured from what I've seen on television, a serial killer shows up like halfway through the season and kills everybody in the department. So it should be super easy for you to move up, I don't they kidnap the girl? Martin has the glasses, and then a lot of stuff has to happen.
Hawley 11:11
Right? And I think in a bigger agency, maybe it is, you know, because there's different, like groups, you're not just a crime scene tech, you are specialized in blood stain or in shooting reconstruction, whereas I have to have a broad knowledge of everything.
Scott Benner 11:27
Right. I at some point, I guess, here diabetes, but there was there was like, you know, for I don't know how long ago it was, there's a lot made that, you know, technology had moved forward. And you can tell like, there was all this, like, you could tell what's happening, by the way, blood splatters and everything. And now more recently, like I'm hearing that that is like flawed science, like, how do you keep up with what's current? And do they ever go backwards? Like, I mean, could you use a technology to, I don't know, find out somebody did something. And then five years later learn the technology is no good. Do they go back and look at that case again? Or how does that all that work?
Hawley 12:05
Yeah, so we have training at least once a year at this like big conference where they go over all the new laws in the state and all that so that we are aware of what is changing in at least in our state. And then of course, the different disciplines like bloodstain and stuff, you would have to go to that specific training, and learn from the people who are experts in that field. And you know, it is changing, and it changes quickly, you look at gunshot residue, and even polygraphs that used to be a big thing on the stand. And nowadays, they're not accepted in courtrooms at all, because of how flawed that they can be gunshot residue, if you're in the room, it's on you. Whether you were involved in it or not. So sometimes that can really be a hindrance on the case unless you're trying to prove the person's that they weren't in the room and you're trying to prove that they were basically, as you're going back to look at cases that's more of like a detective type thing versus crime scene. But I would assume that they do. I mean, you definitely don't want to put innocent people away. Yeah.
Scott Benner 13:09
So you're telling me if I'm in a room, and someone shoots a nine millimeter in here, and you're in the room across the hall and someone shoots a 38 mer, can you tell that we were in different rooms.
Hawley 13:23
So it would definitely depend on like how close certain guns for the size of the gun will determine like how far that gunshot residue is going to go. So you could be standing far enough away that it wouldn't touch you. But because it floats in the air, kind of like you see dust in the air, it can attach to you even when you'd never touch that firearm.
Scott Benner 13:44
What can you tell the nine millimeter from the 38?
Hawley 13:48
I actually don't know if you could I think that that would definitely depend if I don't know a lot about guns, why we have like firearms experts at my police department. But it would depend a lot on the different is there different gunshot powder in those bullets in the ammo? Do they use different ones? Or do they use the same? Because if they use different ones, you could potentially tell that
Scott Benner 14:09
that's interesting. Okay, so let me ask you about the diabetes first. How were you? I have a lot of questions about your job. So how were you? I mean, you you were stumbling around at work. And Did someone say hey, please don't use heroin at the police department or like, like who grabbed you? It was like, Haley, you need help. Did you figure it out on your own? Or?
Hawley 14:29
Yeah, well, I was continually going to doctors. So March was that first doctor? He they called left a voicemail said you're fine. Everything's fine, blah, blah. And I was like, Okay, well, I guess I would have just been tired and I wasn't really experiencing all the symptoms at that point. By June, is when I started to drop a lot of weight. And so I went to actually the gynecologist, and I stepped on the scale and I was 20 pounds less than I had been two weeks prior. And they're like, oh, Oh, no that like that's a healthy weight for your age. And that was like, Yeah, but I'm not trying to lose weight. And that's a lot. So I'm a little concerned. Thankfully, it was the same type of regional clinic. So he was able to see the bloodwork that the doctor had previously done, and saw that he didn't do everything. He didn't do a glucose panel, he didn't even do all the thyroid tests. So it was actually a doctor who's not even specialized to figure it out who ran my glucose panel and found my agency was too high. But then I had problems getting into see an endocrinologist. They referred me to one that didn't take my insurance. And by the time I got one that took my insurance, it was like a two, three month wait to get into that doctor. Oh my god. So yeah, and at this point, I'm 50 pounds less i My potassium was dangerously low. And I end up getting hospitalized to get the potassium injected back into me and get my insulin or my blood sugar down. Because I wasn't on insulin. I was just on Metformin at that point. So
Scott Benner 16:05
I sort of know what you look like 5050 pounds.
Hawley 16:09
I looked like a skeleton.
Unknown Speaker 16:11
Oh my god. Yeah.
Hawley 16:12
That's super sick. I think it was 119 pounds, maybe a little less. When I got my official diagnosis. Did
Scott Benner 16:21
you think you were dying?
Hawley 16:23
I did. I mean, especially because I couldn't get a doctor to help me. Like all these doctors. Were like, okay, yeah, something's wrong. But we can't tell you exactly what it is. It might be diabetes. So here's some Metformin, which made me nauseous and I couldn't eat at all I would order a kid's meal at a restaurant and eat half of it.
Scott Benner 16:43
And, and you're also in a fog, right? Like mentally, right? So you're not even able to kind of advocate for yourself the way you would want to. And you end the weird thing about being in a fog is you don't know that. Like that's, that's the crazy part. Like you just be like, Oh, I went to the doctor, they said this and you kind of go along with it. Because you're you're at half speed and you're obviously you're not even your bloods that oxygenating even like you're you're lightheaded walking around and like you're you're you're really in trouble. So is it just dumb luck that you made it to a doctor in time?
My daughter Arden has been wearing an omni pod since she was four years old. And she is now 19. That is every day wearing an omni pod for the last 15 years. I think what we love most about Omni pod is that it doesn't have any tubing. But I don't know is that the thing you love most about it? You don't have to take it off to swim or bave you can leave it on for activity and exercise. It's small. I don't eat I mean, it's so easy to put on right to fill it and to put it on. It's just it takes us no time at all. Yeah, I guess it's hard to figure out what my favorite thing about Omni pod is. I guess I'll just say that my daughter loves it. It's easy, and it's worked for her. For so many years. It's just such a friend at all this Omni pod.com forward slash juice box you can check your coverage there for your insurance. Or take a test drive right? Would you like a free trial of the Omni pod? You can do that there as well. Then you can just get started. Omni pod.com forward slash juice box now you have a decision to make. Do you want the Omni pod dash, which is an insulin pump? Where you make all the decisions? Or do you want the Omni pod five now the Omnipod five is the first and only tubeless automated insulin delivery system to integrate with the Dexcom G six. And it's available for people with type one diabetes ages two years and older. It features smarter just technology. And it's going to help you to protect against highs and lows both day and night. That's an algorithm based system making decisions about insulin given it and taking it away. It's pretty damn cool. On the pod.com forward slash juicebox links in the show notes links at juicebox podcast.com. When you use those links, you're supporting the production of the podcast and helping to keep it free and plentiful. If you have type two or pre diabetes, that type two diabetes Pro Tip series from the Juicebox Podcast is exactly what you're looking for. Do you have a friend or a family member who is struggling to understand their type two and how to manage it? This series is for them seven episodes to get you on track and up to speed. Episode 860 series intro 864 guilt and shame episode 869 medical team 874 fuelling plan, Episode 880 diabetes technology episode 85 GLP ones metformin and insulin and in Episode 889 We talk about movement. This episode is with me and Jenny Smith. Of course you know Jenny is a certified diabetes Care and Education Specialist. She's a registered and licensed dietitian. And Jenny has had type one diabetes for over 30 years. Too many people don't understand their type two diabetes. And this series aims to fix that. Share it with a friend, or get started today.
Hawley 20:21
So, you know, you saying that you can advocate for yourself is a great thing that leads into basically the friends around me and my co workers, or at least my previous co workers, because I was brand new at my, my current job. But my previous co workers, they were so concerned, they called, is actually a cardiologist, but he was a reserve police officer. So he worked with the agency a lot. And because I had such an accelerated heart rate and trouble breathing when walking, and my potassium being low, he was able to see me for those reasons. And he got me into an endocrinologist the very next week, like he called, and made sure that I got an appointment immediately. Wow. Did you ever go to the ER, I did go to the ER. So I saw him I did the crazy bloodwork panel that test everything. And then I saw the endocrinologist next week. But the bloodwork wasn't in yet. So she drew a little bit of her own blood. And then I went four hours away for a work training a photography training. While I was away at that training this doctor who I currently see because she's amazing, called me four times at one in the morning, unblocked her personal phone number because I wouldn't answer the blocked number. Because I don't ever answer block numbers. Just to tell me my potassium was so low that I needed to go get it rechecked because I was at risk for a heart attack. So me being me, and having class the next day for a brand new job that paid $800 for me to go to this class. It didn't go to the ER right away. I went to class. Later in the week, I was noticing because I was testing my blood sugar at this point. But I was only on Metformin. But I was noticing that I was eating salads for lunch and jumping up into the four or five hundreds. Whereas usually I was resting in the three hundreds waiting for that bloodwork to come in. Yeah. So I ended up going to the ER that week to for the potassium. But while I was there, they also got my blood sugar down into the one hundreds. And then I was diagnosed the very next week after that class.
Scott Benner 22:23
What did it feel like to get your blood sugar down?
Hawley 22:25
Oh, my gosh, it was amazing. And you know, I think that the potassium had the biggest effect on me. Because once that it's four bags of calcium for hours, one bag an hour, because it burns without the saline going in as well. So it takes an hour to finish one bag. Between that and the insulin. I felt like a brand new person. As soon as it was done. I was like, this is exactly what was wrong with me. Because I feel like myself again.
Scott Benner 22:52
Wow, that's amazing. And for people listening, why are you not hiring Haley, when she applies for a job? You listen to what she does, she's like, I'm still going to work. Like her heart was shutting off. And she's like, listen, they paid $800 for me to go to this conference. I'm gonna go to the conference like you're hard worker. Seriously.
Hawley 23:09
I was so nervous. And of course, my boss was like, there's other photography classes. We don't care. Just need to take care of yourself.
Scott Benner 23:18
No, at this point, they were planning on firing you already. They're like, something's really wrong with this girl like we we've made a mistake. Let's just get her through the probation period. We can boot her I think they were probably people were probably just relieved. I would imagine once it was all over that you had an answer?
Hawley 23:32
Yeah. 100% When I started the application process for my job, it took four months to get hired. So when I started the application process, I wasn't experiencing symptoms yet. Yeah. So it was a shock to everyone. And you know, I got the typical, I don't know if your listeners or anybody else has gotten this, but just the Oh, I'm so glad it wasn't worse, because people were thinking, Oh, well, maybe it's cancer and I literally would turn to them Go pull. It is worse though, because it's for life. And it's a very hard diagnosis.
Scott Benner 24:03
Listen, those there's a two different thoughts there because you're right, but what they were thinking was there's no they all thought you were dead.
Hawley 24:09
Right? They thought I was gonna die. Yeah, they were so worried. That was the their initial reaction.
Scott Benner 24:14
Yeah, yeah, the people around you saw the situation you were in and like, oh, that girl's not gonna make it. And yeah, and then they're busy going like, Oh, I'm so glad it's not something that makes your head fall off. And you're like, Yeah, but guess what? Yeah. So what's going on over here? Now, I have tubes and pumps and glucose monitors and test strips. And yeah, I take that point. So I mean, your friends came through for you obviously when the medical community kind of couldn't you were lucky that you worked where you worked, so people knew doctors and and that kind of stuff is just really lucky. No, I'm with all the thyroid on your mom's side. No type one.
Hawley 24:57
So there's no type one on her side and unfortunately Because of my biological father's side not being involved in my life, I have a great stepdad than my dad since I was two. We didn't know that medical side and diabetes runs on the biological father's side. Oh, I learned that afterwards. Yeah.
Scott Benner 25:14
That would have been nice to know sooner. Yes. Well, that's crazy. So should you by the way is your thyroid, okay.
Hawley 25:25
I have hash tomatoes. So, but my thyroid is, it never falls out of range. So they don't necessarily like prescribe me medication for it. I am testing out a low dosage though, because I do still have some symptoms, even though I'm still within range. And my mom has graves, which is the opposite. Pretty much, she said that she has to run a little higher to feel normal. And that that could be hereditary to run a little bit higher than what they want you to run.
Scott Benner 25:53
There's an excellent thyroid series inside the podcast, if you ever want to check it out, I think, yeah, from my perspective, if you have symptoms you should be using like Synthroid or something, you know, one of those medications, you should you shouldn't, I guess what I'm saying is you shouldn't take medication based on the number you should take it based on how you feel.
Hawley 26:14
Yeah. And I think that that's why this doctor gave me the month of or two, I'm sorry, it's two months of to test it out and see, because I was going to a previous doctor, the first doctor who diagnosed me I went to her until my insurance dropped that location, and I couldn't go there anymore. And then went to this other doctor who was just very data driven. If the numbers didn't show it, they didn't do it. They are the ones that diagnosed me with the Hashimotos. But you know, they didn't really do anything about it. They just said, Okay, well, you have it. Here you go. So soon as my insurance switched, I immediately jumped back ship to the good doctor.
Scott Benner 26:49
Yeah, you could see, you could see symptoms over a TSH of like, 2.1 or so. And it would be reasonable to medicate them. Anyway, there's great episodes, I'll share them with you when we're done. So. Okay, so. So when you go from the 911 job, which I want to ask you about just a little bit, is that hard? Is that hard on you like on your soul? Is that a tough job?
Hawley 27:13
I would say that anything in this field? Yes, mental health is a big thing. And I'm thankful that the agency that I work for, they believe in that and they actually pay for a therapist office that we can go to, that doesn't tell them who's going to see them, they just pay the bill. And then we can go whenever we need for whatever we want. But it's it's hard, because you're listening to people, you know, number one wise, you're listening to people in the worst moments, they need help. And you know, it could be something really serious. Or maybe it doesn't seem mysterious to you, but it is to them. It's the worst day of their life. Yeah. And like I said before, you're hanging up the phone afterwards, and you're just picking up the next one. For an example. My mom was a 911 dispatcher for 10 years, and she was on the phone during the Fort Hood, active shooter. And that still makes it hard for her to be in crowds to this day.
Scott Benner 28:09
I can't imagine and then like you said that it's just over. And it's still happening. And you know, it's still happening. But you're on to the next one. And the next one's like I locked myself out of my house, you're like, Oh, my God, well, you have no idea what's happening three blocks away. Right? Yeah. Is it harder to listen to somebody? In the aftermath of something? Or is it? Is it more difficult to talk to somebody while something's happening to them? Like as far as getting? You know what I mean? Like getting their information? How hard it is for you to hear? Like that kind of stuff?
Hawley 28:43
Yeah, definitely during, you know, sometimes your emotions are running higher, you're yelling, you're crying, you're kind of incoherent sometimes. And you know that certain agencies and certain programs require certain questions to be asked. And so I know one of the programs we were using, required me to ask the address twice, and that person after the first time they give it to you, they might not be listening anymore, because they just need help. And they're like, you have my address, send someone or you know, they don't actually want to talk to you or maybe they can't talk to you. Maybe there's somebody in the room with them that can't know that they're on my one. So definitely during the situation, it's always harder.
Scott Benner 29:23
Yeah. Interesting that you were diagnosed with type one after you left that job. So how many recollections do you have of 911 calls from people with type one?
Hawley 29:34
You know, I don't know if I ever necessarily took no one calls that Right, right. They never said that they had it. But now that I'm working in crime scenes, I will go to, you know, death scenes, and I'll see packages of syringes and insulin and stuff like that. And I'm like, Whoa, I didn't realize you know, that this was so big before I had diabetes. I didn't The difference between type one type two, I didn't know there was like seven different kinds of it, what any of it meant until the week after I was diagnosed, and I was trying to learn it all in a hurry, right?
Scott Benner 30:11
Okay, so I want to understand your job. You, I assume go to an office. And what happens like crimes committed or something happens, someone comes and gets you and takes you to a scene or says this is where you have to go, like walk me through the whole process.
Hawley 30:28
Yeah, so I work four days a week, 10 hour shifts, I work from 6am to 4pm. And I kind of choose those hours, we just have to work 40 In a week, they're not big on whether that's eight hour or 10 hour shifts. But the majority of my job, unlike the TV is a desk job. With lots of spreadsheets on Excel, I'm in charge of the evidence room as well. And taking that evidence to and from crime labs and stuff like that. So that takes up the majority of my day. If a crime scene does occur, and they need us, then they will call our we have work phones, we're on call, there's only two of us. So I'm on call every other day, they'll call us we have work vehicles that we can take home. And so we'll take that vehicle, we have an hour to respond to the scene. And once we get to the scene, it is our job to document that scene in different ways. So we take photos, we take videos, we will draw and sketch the scene, collect evidence, take notes, all kinds of things that when we go to court, we can recreate that scene if needed. And then also, of course, collect the evidence that could solve the crime.
Scott Benner 31:32
So the way you collect the data, the visuals especially is about putting you in a situation where you can recollect it later based on what you saw it there almost notes for yourself so that you can say when I got there, this was happening. These were at this angle, like that kind of stuff. It's it's for you. So they the your expertise can then be drawn upon in a in a hearing or some sort of
Hawley 31:53
Yeah, and even I mean with this was a hand drawn sketch, you can take those measurements with PVC pipe and white butcher paper and create a 3d model of that crime scene and walk a jury through it. And so it's a big, those are big things for courtrooms, which don't happen for years after it. And so you're trying to remember what you did 234 years ago, I still haven't gone to court for my first every fatality accident, which was in 2018. But you will eventually. And I may unless they play out, you know, I might go to court for that. I think it's scheduled for March of next year right now. So if they call if they subpoena me to that courtroom, I need to remember what I did. And so I always I have my photos and like notes and sketches and all that it saved in three different places at my work theater.
Scott Benner 32:41
And so it's it's, it's so it's about collecting the data to have it but it's also the way you collect it is about how it kind of jogs your memory when you look back at it again. So that's why there's a process like that, there's what I'm imagining, like there's Yeah,
Hawley 32:56
has to be like an actual representation of the scene, you know, because if you take your photo in a way that distorts it, then you can be seen as trying to make the crime scene into what you wanted it to be pulling in that bias, like, oh, well, they set it to suicide. So it's definitely a suicide, making the evidence show that it is. But you can't do that, you know, and that's why you kind of have to follow steps, you take photos first, because you can't touch anything until those photos are done. You can't touch anything until your sketches done. Once those are done, then you can start collecting evidence. So there's definitely a process to make sure that it gets done correctly.
Scott Benner 33:35
How was my question? I just had a question. Oh, evidence evidence handling. So I'm assuming then a lot of it's about packaging it correctly, keeping it clean, safe away from being touched by other stuff? And then do you log it all and then take it to a handling room? And then during the day? Also, it's about moving it around in a way that protects it? And is that a lot of your job? Right? Like a lot of it is, is making sure that nothing is touched or messed with?
Hawley 34:06
Right? Yeah, so we go to like a bunch of classes on different packaging, certain pieces of evidence can't be packaged in plastic versus paper. We have boxes specifically for firearms. And there's a lot of rules and policies on how what can be packaged which way. And so, you know, those are something that me and my partner have to be experts in because we have to also correct every officer putting in evidence for the scenes that we do not go to if they're doing it right or wrong, you know, it is our job to take those from the officer and put those in the evidence room, but they have to be put in there correctly. And then we're the only ones with the keys to get to that evidence to get in those evidence rooms. And so we are responsible. If one of those items goes missing like it is on us. We could get fired. We could get charged with a crime. Our chief could get fired and there's a lot of liability that comes with an evidence room.
Scott Benner 34:59
Do you do car X? It's as well,
Hawley 35:01
I do, we stopped doing them for a little bit because we have an accident reconstruction team. And they're trained in forensic photography and all that as well. And so there's only two of us. And there's like six of them or so they were handling the photos without us that I don't know, if anybody else has noticed how short staffed everyone is lately, but we also are short staffed. So we have taken on doing accidents again,
Scott Benner 35:26
I there's a sandwich place in the town where I live, and they've hired a man who is I'm just gonna guess his age 175 years old. And, and he, he makes sandwiches at a speed that is not conducive to eating. And I did I know one of the guys there and I was like, What's up and he goes, we can't get me to work. Like, still. You people gotta go back to work. It's over now. Like, go please go make my sandwich. But that's interesting. So what about fires? Do you do fires and arson? Or is that a different branch of what you do?
Hawley 36:03
So most of the time, our sins are really handled by the fire marshals because they have the fire and the peace officer licensed. They're trained in both police and fire. But if the arson causes a homicide, or you know, they tried to burn up the evidence, because they they killed somebody, then we would definitely go to that scene and assist with the collection of evidence. And all of that
Scott Benner 36:26
sounds like a interesting job. Do you find it to be interesting? Or does it even does everything get repetitive after a while?
Hawley 36:32
Yeah, I mean, I definitely find it interesting. Growing up, I was always the one watching the serial killer documentaries. In college, I was doing projects on serial killers and grossing my teachers out. It's always something that's fascinated me, I would watch Forensic Files till I fell asleep at night, which is pretty much the only accurate TV show when it comes to crime scenes. So it was always something that I've been interested in in, which is why I took that jump from, you know, dispatching to this job. But now that I do it, obviously, it's interesting, but it's also super stressful and a lot of work. I don't watch Forensic Files and all that anymore. I've never even seen the new Jeffrey Dahmer thing on Netflix.
Scott Benner 37:13
So breaking your heart that you didn't see it.
Hawley 37:16
You know, I'm just not even interested to watch it. Because I do this all day, almost every single day, especially now that I'm a supervisor. I feel like I'm constantly checking my emails and having that work phone attached to my hip.
Scott Benner 37:29
Well, how does your diabetes impact your work then? So how do you manage? Do you have a pump or MDI or what do you do?
Hawley 37:36
Yeah, so I recently got the pump and CGM back in January of 2021. I could not afford it at first, because my insurance does not cover medical devices until you meet your deductible. And it was going to cost me 3000. I think 3300 total for the pump up front. But I was experiencing the dawn phenomenon. So I was going to sleep on a normal blood sugar in the 90s, maybe, and waking up to 50 to 80 every morning. And so I was like I need this pump, I need something to where I don't have to wake up every few hours to give myself insulin. And so actually did a fundraiser. And my police department helped with that as well. They donated $500 to it. And I raised $5,000 within two weeks. And so I was able to get the pump kit the Dexcom and put some money away for the rest of the year when it came to insulin and then also help somebody else out as well. And it's been life changing. I mean before the Dexcom in pump. And before listening, actually to your CGM episode, my agency was about a 9.1. On three months of the pump, I was down to 6.8. That's terrific. It was magic, but like literally life changing. So you know, at work, obviously, before that I had to injections and I had to check my blood sugar right pricking my finger. And sometimes you're on a crime scene for like seven hours. And if you don't have food or snacks, you know, that can be really difficult. And I have great coworkers who I can text and I have before on a seven hour crime scene in June in the middle of Texas outside 102 degrees and said, Hey, can you please bring me some food because my blood sugar is gonna go low and I have nothing and they will drop what they're doing and do that for me. I've taught them you know, what the glucagon is? And that I have it in my drawers and have things in my crime scene van that can help me on a scene. So it's definitely being prepared for the worst before it happens.
Scott Benner 39:45
Yeah, you don't want to scene on top of a scene.
Hawley 39:47
Right? Exactly. They're not going to be very happy with me.
Scott Benner 39:51
That happens the crime scene investigator passed out Yes. Her blood sugar got low. Well, that's that's really I mean going back to the You know, the fundraiser that's, I mean, that's how much it meant to you're like, I can't pay for this. I know I need it. I'm going to try to see if I can find another way you you should, like, do a thing where you prove like boyfriends are cheating or something like that you could probably charge for that. I probably, yeah, I sit there submarket for that. Were you, you just kind of come into the house you look around, you tell him what to look for? Do you find yourself being? Does the job make you more suspicious?
Hawley 40:29
100%. I feel like I do not press anything. You know, I get out of my car and I look around I have certain security measures in my apartment. Like I have a bar that goes under my door. So you can't kick it in. I don't like answer phone calls or answer the door to people? I don't know. Because I do see those terrible things happen?
Scott Benner 40:50
Yeah. Do you think it's a reasonable concern? Or do you think it's just it's just kind of, I don't know, multiplied? Because you've seen it more than once? Yeah,
Hawley 41:01
I think some of it is reasonable. I think some of it also comes from being a female. And, you know, when you're female who lives alone, I live in a city that isn't always I don't live in the city, I work but the city I live in, not always the nicest city. And so some of that is like reasonable and some of it is just from the job. You carry
Scott Benner 41:18
gun. You live in Texas, you must carry a gun, right?
Hawley 41:22
I have one and I actually don't carry it. I kind of just use it as home security. But I did have to call the cops last Friday, because this guy was knocking on my door. And he kept touching the doorknob trying to see if it was unlocked. So I started carrying it while I take my dog out to the bathroom. Just just because I don't know where that guy came from or who he is. But I haven't seen him again. Thankfully. Oh, that's
Scott Benner 41:46
That's it? Yeah. Did that make your blood sugar go up? By the way?
Hawley 41:51
I did. Yeah, I did. I was so stressed out.
Scott Benner 41:54
Oh, that would stress me out, too. I mean, I know you're saying, you know, I'm alone. And I'm a woman. But I'm, if I'm, I feel the same way. I'd be like, Why are we trying to open the door? Although it's so. Oh, that's crazy. How? How long have you lived alone?
Hawley 42:14
Since last October.
Scott Benner 42:16
Okay. So you've you've done both ways. You've been by yourself. You've been in school, you've lived with a person you've been by yourself, again, kind of going back and forth?
Hawley 42:25
Correct? Yes. So I was married, recently divorced. And when I was married, is when I got on the pump. And when I was diagnosed, and so I had two incomes. And so that has been an adjustment. And also, you know, not having someone there. In case I do drop really low. So you know, on the Dexcom app, I have five people watching my numbers, and some of those people work nights, so that they can look at my numbers while I'm sleeping.
Scott Benner 42:50
That's excellent. That's really great. I like the way you've got that all covered. I don't want to know your personal business. But now I'm dying to know if you figured something out about your husband. Because of your job. You're like, wait a minute, I'm seeing what's happening here. But we'll skip over that because it's not part of what we're talking about. Short answer is yes. Oh, my God. So this so there's something about being deductive and paying attention to things that lead you to figure out something in your personal life?
Hawley 43:18
Yeah, I mean, you know, my brain works in different ways. You know, when I see things, I want to investigate it further. So, you know, I might not be suspicious at first, but if I see something that makes me suspicious, I'm going to investigate it.
Scott Benner 43:32
Mm hmm. Interesting. Wow. That'll scare guys off. It'll scare the wrong guys. Or the it'll scare the wrong guys off so good. Yeah. You should tell that story on the date.
Hawley 43:47
Right, see if they jump up and run or not,
Scott Benner 43:49
don't even bother he second phone. I'm gonna know. Why are boys terrible? Haley.
Hawley 43:56
You know, there's crazy girls out there too. So I know their wedding in general was, it's crazy.
Scott Benner 44:03
I'll tell you that. What's that? Like with diabetes? Now? Have you dove back in? Have you tried to go out with somebody?
Hawley 44:09
Yes, I recently started dating, probably literally last month of the month before. And I was really nervous about that. I was nervous to bring it up to pull the pump out. You know, I tried to wear my CGM in places where you can see it. Just because, you know, I've been out at grocery stores and had kids come up and show me theirs. And so I'm like, you know, it's a great thing. It's a community trying to find Blauw diabetics in the wild, right. So I tried to make it known that I was worried about that on a day, you know, do I say it right away? And so far, it's been just like, Oh, that's cool. Like, oh, what's that? Like, you know, that must be hard. And I'm like, was kind of the opposite of what I expected it to be. But it's still something that I'm like, curious to see how it goes. Yeah.
Scott Benner 44:55
Well, I mean, we saw what the FBI said when you told them so that wouldn't make me All right, so you need more experience where you gotta go.
Hawley 45:04
You gotta get out of here. And you're just well, you can't be in the military, if you're a type one. So I mean, there's a lot of jobs that you get disqualified from for it.
Scott Benner 45:12
Yeah. Well, I mean, it's one of those things like, it's, it sucks, like, yeah, I understand. I think I understand everybody's perspective. You don't I mean, like, you need to work and it's not your fault, you have type one. And at the same time, if we were, I don't know, flying jets, I wouldn't want your blood sugar getting low. So it's a lot there to consider. Tough to bring up to people you're dating, because you're not sure what they're gonna say people have been generally accepting. I always tell people, like, I've had a lot of, like interviews where people talk about finding like, you know, mates and the right people. And it just, it doesn't seem to be an issue when you find the right person. And yeah, that sucks. Because, I mean, I get it, I get it. I mean, like, I get why it would suck. And it's something I worry about for my daughter, too. You know,
Hawley 46:00
I mean, I'm definitely going to keep somebody up in the middle of the night. Are you further it's pump alarms, or my work phone's going off to go to a crime scene. So you might not get any sleep.
Scott Benner 46:08
Well, oh, Arden's been home from school for like a week, like today. And I told her last night, I was like I have, I've slept so terribly the last three nights. Because, you know, that adjustment, like she left her schedule, and she's coming into a different schedule, and it throws your blood sugar off, and you're in the middle of kind of like, getting it back together again. And I was like, God, I've been up like two nights in a row, because your blood sugar has gotten high or low. And but when she was in school, she was in such a pattern like that. It worked great. And it is, I mean, it that it does impact the people who are with you. So I mean, I think there's no doubt about it. Like I wouldn't be, you know, I wouldn't be upset if my daughter heard me say this, but my life's not what it would have been if she didn't have diabetes, just like hers is, you know, I mean, in different ways, obviously. But still, there's impacts everywhere. Yeah. So you said you use a pump, but you didn't say which one? Are you on an algorithm? Are you using the pump on your own?
Hawley 47:09
Yeah, I'm using the tandem T slim. So I have the control IQ nine with the Dexcom G six. It just happened to be a little bit cheaper than the Omnipod for me, and I was on the Medtronic CGM. And I just wasn't very happy with it. And so I didn't want to get that pump specifically. And the tandem just worked out. Well, I like I said, been on it for a little What is it a year and a half now? Yeah, almost years. Do you like the control IQ? I do like it. I I'm a little bad when it comes to putting in the carbs before I eat them. So I don't always let the pump do the job that it's supposed to do. And my you know, my endocrinologist definitely tells me Hey, I needed to put these carbs in so I can accurately read your numbers and like You're right. I'm so sorry.
Scott Benner 47:57
So what what happens? So you know, you're going to eat, and then you don't like so you're not Pre-Bolus thing is what you're saying?
Hawley 48:04
Sometimes Yeah, like if I'm out in a restaurant with friends, I will sometimes just kind of almost forget like, Oh, hey, by the way, you're diabetic you need to do this and, and be a little bit lazy and not do it right away. And then when it starts going up, I'm like, Oh crap, and then you just
Scott Benner 48:19
throw it out. Or you do tell it you ate or do you just throw in insulin at that point? Yeah, I
Hawley 48:24
still put in the carbs. Like, okay, I know I ate this many carbs. So let me go ahead and put those in. But I always check to see if it gave me anything because, you know, I was trying to do conversion, like the corrections and stuff. So I don't want to overdo it. Because I've done that too. Yeah, that's not fun, obviously.
Scott Benner 48:42
Yeah, so your blood sugar. You don't tell it you're eating. I'm never gonna get rid of this cold. Hold on a second. This is how I'm gonna live for the rest of my life. I think we're like seven weeks into being sick at my house. It's my wife's the worst. She's definitely like, I don't want to say this like this. But I mean, if anybody's interested in me, I'm probably going to be available soon. Like she's, she's been. She's been really sick. And it just it got everybody. i We she got COVID thought it was gone. It rebounded. She gave it to me and my son. We struggled with it. I got bronchitis afterwards. So did my wife. I think my son had it not as bad. And then we finally got antibiotics for the bronchitis. It kicked it out of me but not out of her. And now I think she's got a third different illness in like seven weeks. Oh my goodness. I told her today when I actually I told her when I came in here. I said, if I come out and you're not at a doctor's office, I'm going to take you like a small child, but I like to go back to the doctor. So in these scenarios, if you don't remember the Bolus for your food, your blood sugar starts going up. Control IQ sees that starts giving you insulin and then later you're like, oh hell and then you put in the carbs. Do you get low later after that happens? Or does that depend on how aggressive you are?
Hawley 49:59
Yeah. depends on me, I would say, and sometimes I am too aggressive, you know, with it. And I've noticed that and tried to cut back on doing that, because, you know, I was having a lot of lows, this, this last three months in between my endocrinologist appointments, and I did start going to the gym more. And I dropped really low in the gym a lot, too. So she adjusted my numbers in general. But, you know, I know that I am part of the problem, like I need to be putting in the carbs before I eat them, you know, I needed to be making make sure that I'm taking that time to do it correctly. Just read those numbers, you know, obviously, so that I feel better. But she knows whether or not the numbers that she's changing in the pump are doing their job.
Scott Benner 50:41
So let me ask you a question based on your job, your profession, and how well you were able to sniff out that terrible husband of yours and other things. Why is that? You? Don't do it?
Hawley 50:52
No, I haven't found the answer to that yet. Honestly, I feel like I am just so lazy sometimes with it. It's like, I know I need to do it. I know that I'll feel bad if I don't do it. But there's times where I just don't want to do it. And I think that, you know, it being like four years in that I need to focus on doing it better. Now, you know, I don't want those complications in the future. And you know, I need to get into good habits. So even though my agency was I think it was like a 6.6 this last time. I'm not necessarily doing the things I need to do to have anyone see that's under seven. Yeah. Do have any kids. I do not know, just very once,
Scott Benner 51:33
just for do you think you will ever want to?
Hawley 51:36
I don't. It was something I didn't want before I was diabetic either. I have my niece and my nephew for my brother. And I'm like, That's good enough. But then a dog and a cat. They're great.
Scott Benner 51:47
Done. I'd tell you it's very expensive. That's the Yeah, that's the thing I know about it, for sure. But I was just asking to see if you were like if your focus was split on other people or something like that. But so you know, she just kind of you're kind of qualifying it by saying like, lazy but it Do you think it's do you think it's possible that it's just still very new and you don't want to have diabetes?
Hawley 52:13
I think that that could definitely be a big factor. When I was first diagnosed, the way the doctor said it to me, which is very blunt in your face, like, Hey, you're you're type one diabetic, it's going to be for the rest of your life. Let's start going into the details. And I was in a tunnel at that point. I don't know what she said to me after she said those words. And at the time, my ex husband was in the room with me, thankfully, because he did catch the other things that she was saying. And I did go through, you know, a depression based on that diagnosis where I stopped taking care of myself in other ways, you know, I didn't shower as much and stuff like that. And I did end up seeing, you know, a therapist and taking the steps to take care of myself better. So I could say that's probably part of it, it's probably still part of that healing process of that diagnosis and the grief stages you go through.
Scott Benner 53:02
That would be my expectation based on listening to other people talk about their lives, that it's just, there's a small part of you, that's just like I want I want this not to exist. And if maybe around meals, you can make it not exist for a few minutes. I don't know, maybe that's satisfying somehow. I don't know, obviously, I'm just talking based on anecdotal information I hear from other people, I would tell you that there'd be a lot less for you to think about, if you did those things, which I assume you know, so. Right. Yeah. Like you could really free up a lot of the other parts of your life, which would be nice. And you'll move on. It sounds to me like you're in a journey situation, and you're moving in the right direction just kind of takes time to go through it.
Hawley 53:46
Yeah, I think that, you know, 26 years of my life, I wasn't really sick, ever. I didn't really have to go to the doctor or focus on what I was eating, not necessarily that I was eating really bad things, but like I didn't have to count carbs or do anything like that. Actually how you talked about bronchitis a little bit ago, I had bronchitis the January before my diagnosis. And I had never had bronchitis before. So you know, I started out really sick that year. And of course, then it just, I got even sicker and got my diagnosis. And so in that year was just rough in general. Yeah.
Scott Benner 54:21
How long did that stick with you the illness
Hawley 54:23
had bronchitis. Well, I had a sinus infection again, I went to an urgent care and a doctor was like, Oh, I don't think it's a sinus infection. And I caught them every year. So I knew that it wasn't science fiction, but she didn't give me antibiotics. She gave me a cough suppressant. So it held that infection in there and it turned into bronchitis. So I would say it was a good six weeks or more that I was sick with bronchitis.
Scott Benner 54:47
Oh, no kidding. That's sucks. Yeah. And it's just did it make the diabetes more difficult for you?
Hawley 54:54
So it came before the diagnosis and honestly, I was interested to know you know, they say that trauma to the body. you mentally and physically can help with like, can almost call it not cause it, obviously, but lead to your diagnosis. And so I didn't know if the bronchitis, you know, kind of helped speed up that process or not?
Scott Benner 55:14
Yeah, well, I mean, any kind of stress on the body, right, that brings your immune system into play might have been one of the things that that stressed things to the point where, you know, your, your immune system is like, Oh, I'm confused. I'll go get her beta cells now. Sucks. It, the whole thing sucks. I'm wondering about you just, you're an interesting age, right? Like you're in your early 30s. But you've been more recently diagnosed, you've gone through a number of different life changes. And you're just starting to get it's interesting to talk to you right now. Because it's, you're not a kid, right? Like, it's not happening to you, like you're aware of how to live, you've been through some good things and some bad things in your life. It's not that you're you seem calm about it. Do you consider that you're at peace, that you have diabetes? And that you're just working it out? Or do you think it's still something you're coming to grips with?
Hawley 56:10
I would say like, 90% of the time, I'm at peace with it. But I feel like I still have those moments where I kind of like, woe is me, I'm going to feel bad about myself certain things, I'm still learning. And so I think as I learn those things, and as I get better, with using the pump, and being able to understand it more, that helps me be more at peace with it to just the knowledge on how to do better with it.
Scott Benner 56:35
Yeah. Well, that's good. I mean, it's, I think it's just a process. It takes a lot of time has community been valuable for you online at all.
Hawley 56:42
It's been huge for me, I've actually met a few like diabetics through Tik Tok, and met them in person, when being She's a kid and her mom takes care of her. And then her mom's fiance is also type one. And she has me on her Dexcom, too. So this mom has three people with alarms going off constantly. And her daughter has been such an inspiration to me, because I'll post tech talks of me changing my Dexcom and changing my insulin pump cartridge, just kind of put the knowledge out there on how to do it. She tells me that like her daughter was too scared to do it before seeing my videos. And now she does it on her own. And so then I'm like, Oh, well, I need to do better. Like, you know, I've got little little kids watching me, I need to be better about it. And then there's also like a group of ladies here that we meet once a month and get lunch and we talk about things and I listen to your podcasts. And like I said the CGM one was big for me, especially when I traveled eight hours to see my brother driving. Podcasts are like the best way to make that trip. Things that are huge. It is
Scott Benner 57:49
a really interesting medium, it lends itself to this incredibly well. Somebody asked me the other day about like, you know, could you make a video series about this? And I was like, I gotta be honest with you. I was like, I don't think it'll work. I think that there's something about being able to listen while you're doing other things and be able to have more long form conversations that get to stuff and I don't know, I just I think this works the best Hey, dude, tick tock. People bounce in real life or No, not in real life. They don't bounce. Like when you're all standing around, they don't just like, like, pull on their shirts, or like you don't I mean,
Hawley 58:26
right? Transit? No.
Scott Benner 58:30
They don't suddenly show up in a completely different outfit.
Hawley 58:35
Might be a little weird.
Scott Benner 58:37
It's amazing. But it's very cool that you to use any kind of like, any kind of popular way of contacting people. Like, you know, I've heard people say, I mean, we've had people in our house to show them how to change their insulin pump. And that's, it's nice, but it's one person at a time, right? Like, if you do your work on Tiktok and 500 people see it, then that's 500 people who got it doesn't look so tough. And you know, and then they can can feel better about it. It's really, it's wonderful. Is there anything? I'm not asking you about your job that I should be? I want to make sure I'm not getting too far away from something important.
Hawley 59:13
You know, I don't think so. I think that, you know, we touched some of the big things, which was the mental health side of it. And you know, that the physical, I'm lifting heavy things every now and then. And anybody knows with that has diabetes, that workouts can really affect your blood sugar's too. So just in general, I mean, it's a constant watch and just look at think about this technology, right, having the CGM and having this right on my phone that I can be in the middle of the evidence room and area where I don't have the best cell phone service and still get a notification if something's going on with my blood sugar.
Scott Benner 59:49
Yeah, no, it's the technology is huge. I was talking to our friend the other day, like we drove home together so often goes to school pretty far away from our house and it's She's a fashion student. And so Arden traveled with most of her clothing. And, you know, she's got this break for her largest break of the years right now. She's like, not going to be at school for a couple of months. And she's like, I want to bring my stuff home. And I was like, Well, how are you gonna do that? She's like, you're gonna drive here, and then drive me back. And I was like, okay, so long drive. So like, I leave my house, one o'clock on a Thursday. And I think at like three in the morning, stopped at a hotel, and slept like five hours, then got up and drove two more hours and picked it up, right. And so we get our stuff packed in the car, middle of the afternoon, we leave more of a straight shot home, we can share the driving a little bit. So it doesn't take quite as long. But we get home at like four in the morning. So I think I drove something like, I don't know, 28 or 30 hours in like a 37 hour timeframe. And anyway, there was a lot of time to talk on the way home. And I remember just saying to her, I don't know how we would have done this. So well. Like I don't know how you would have had the experience you had without all this technology. You know what I mean? Like, like, you still would have gone to college. But I don't know how you would have been 10 weeks, in a place where the quality of the food's not great. All of a sudden, like you go from the food you're eating to like lesser quality food makes it more difficult to Bolus for has using more insulin has you eating more late at night, you're walking around more suddenly, you're in a city by yourself. Like, I mean, there was a time she got she did this Pre-Bolus for a meal. And she got pretty low on the CGM. And I told the story somewhere in the podcast, but I was able to with apps that I have on my phone, see where she was physically. So I knew she was at a place where there was food and that she was eating. Like I said, I saw that she was in the cafeteria, that was an app, I saw another app that saw when the when the insulin went in and how much she put in. And I could see the projection of where it thought she was going to be in five minutes. And I don't know what I would have like, otherwise, she just would have been somewhere in her blood sugar would have been 50. Right? I wouldn't have known that. And she wouldn't have known it, she would have given herself insulin and gone to eat and just all would have happened. It's just the I mean, I know everybody can afford it. Right? It's not, like you talked about earlier, like everybody's insurance doesn't cover it. But I don't know, like diabetes went from what it was to what it is now in like 15 years. It was such a it's such a leap over the last 15 years. And it's just, I don't know, it's it's changing people's lives. Art, and she would not have had the same experience without this stuff.
Hawley 1:02:57
Yeah, I mean, I think it's really important for me, you know, even if I couldn't really afford the both of them, you know, I honestly have to get rid of the poem. Because with the with the Dexcom. You know, if I'm on a crime scene, my most recent one was actually homicide and I was on a team for 1415 hours, I have to be able to see my numbers and I might not be able to take my gloves off and go prick my finger in the corner, necessarily. I mean, obviously I have understanding coworkers, I probably could, but you just never know what situation you're going to be in how long you're going to be on these scenes. So that the Dexcom is so important, especially because I can just look on my phone real quick.
Scott Benner 1:03:36
Yeah, Haley, I think what's more likely is that what would happen is what used to happen to people which is you would keep your blood sugar higher so that you didn't go or you would just go and go and go until you felt dizzy and they eat way too much food and drive your blood sugar back up again. And having a one C and the sevens or eights because you can't see anything. And I the point you made I mean I'd make the same point I don't want my daughter not to have a pump but if you had to give one of them back it's a reasonable decision to make like you know I believe it's kind of a false choice but for some people but but still the points there is that seeing your blood sugar and the speed and the direction and that's the that's the first step right and then after that, I mean look at it that things talking to your pump your pumps giving you insulin, but you don't Bolus for a meal like freaking amazing, you know?
Hawley 1:04:29
Yeah, nowadays if you do the update on tandem you can give yourself insulin from your phone. You don't even have to pull your pump out of your pocket anymore. Which I think for somebody like me is definitely a necessity
Scott Benner 1:04:40
yeah no of course yeah, that's really wonderful. I don't know i were i really appreciated you coming on and talking about this Thank you. It was really great if you to take the time you listen but not that much right?
Hawley 1:04:52
Yeah, I do. I try to listen on my drives. But I choose like the specific episodes that definitely Direct into, like what I need,
Scott Benner 1:05:02
you're more of like a management listener? Or do you like the community stuff too?
Hawley 1:05:06
Yeah, I would say more of the management. You know, I haven't really dived in, I think, to the community episodes enough yet, so I'll definitely have to check those out, and especially the thyroid ones.
Scott Benner 1:05:16
Are you in the Facebook group?
Hawley 1:05:17
I am Yes.
Scott Benner 1:05:19
Up in the feature tab, there's lists of all the series, The defining thyroid series is, is I think it's great because I don't think people talk about it enough. But there's an episode within it, Episode 413. It's called thyroid disease explained with the doctor that actually manages the people in my family's thyroid. And she's just terrific. And then the Pro Tip series. And I and there's also an algorithm Have you ever listened to? I'm finding one Hold on, I'm actually looking episode 662 is called control IQ ninja. You might, you might like that.
Hawley 1:05:55
Yeah, definitely. Have to check that one out. For sure.
Scott Benner 1:05:58
I appreciate you doing this very much. And being so honest, like you were just like, you know, nobody comes on the podcast about diabetes expecting to be like, Yeah, I just got divorced. So it's nice of you to to be so honest. While you're talking to I appreciate it. Yeah,
Hawley 1:06:14
it's been fun.
Scott Benner 1:06:15
Thank you. Hold on one second for me. Okay. Okay. All right. Hey, huge thanks to Haley for coming on the show and sharing her story with us. And of course, we want to thank Omni pod for sponsoring this episode of The Juicebox Podcast. Find out more about the AMI pod five for the Omni pod dash at Omni pod.com forward slash juicebox. And when you're ready to buy use that same link to get started or to ask for a test drive. Don't forget to check out the private Facebook group Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes 40,000 members. It's an incredible place, you will learn something there or help somebody Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes doesn't matter what kind of diabetes you have. You're welcome there. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast. A diabetes diagnosis comes with a lot of new terminology. And that's why I've created the defining diabetes series. These are short episodes, where Jenny Smith and I go over all of the terms that you're going to hear living with diabetes, and some of them that you might not hear every day, from the very simple Bolus up to feed on the floor. Don't know the difference between hypo and hyper. We'll explain it to you. These are short episodes. They are not boring. They're fun, and they're informative. It's not just us reading to you out of the dictionary, we take the time to chat about all of these different words. Maybe you don't know what a coup small respiration is, you will when you're done. Ever heard of glycemic index and load haven't doesn't matter. You will know after you listen to the defining diabetes series. Now, how do you find it, you go to juicebox podcast.com up top to the menu and click on defining diabetes. You'll be able to listen right there in your browser. Or you'll see the full list of the episodes and be able to go into an audio app like Apple podcasts or Spotify and listen to them at your pace. Download them into your phone and listen when you can. The defining diabetes series is made up of 51 short episodes. That will fast forward your knowledge of diabetes terminology
Please support the sponsors
The Juicebox Podcast is a free show, but if you'd like to support the podcast directly, you can make a gift here. Recent donations were used to pay for podcast hosting fees. Thank you to all who have sent 5, 10 and 20 dollars!
