#1353 Carol Brady Wouldn't Understand
Scott Benner
'Gertie' has type 1 as does her son; and did her father.
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Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends, welcome back to another episode of The juicebox podcast.
We are calling today's guest Gertie. She's 41 years old. She's had type one diabetes for 23 years, and her 19 year old son has had it for 17 years. Her youngest son is 14 and also has type one diabetes. Her father had type one lung cancer and some problems that we'll talk about as the episode goes forward. Please don't forget 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. Don't forget to save 40% off of your entire order@cozyearth.com All you have to do is use the offer code juicebox at checkout. That's juicebox at checkout to save 40 percent@cozyearth.com when you place your first order for ag one, with my link, you'll get five free travel packs and a free year supply of vitamin D drink. Ag one.com/juice, box. Don't forget, if you're a US resident who has type one, or is the caregiver of someone with type one, visit T 1d, exchange.org/juice, box right now and complete that survey. It will take you 10 minutes to complete the survey, and that effort alone will help to move type one diabetes research forward. It will cost you nothing to help. This episode of The juicebox podcast is sponsored by Medtronic diabetes, and later in this episode, we're going to be speaking with Heather, who will talk about the importance of education and understanding the impacts of hyperglycemia. Medtronic, diabetes.com/hyper. This show is sponsored today by the glucagon that my daughter carries, gvoke hypopen. Find out more at gvoke glucagon.com. Forward slash juicebox. Today's podcast is sponsored by us Med, usmed.com/juice box. You can get your diabetes supplies from the same place that we do. And I'm talking about Dexcom, libre, OmniPod, tandem, and so much more. US med.com/juice, box, or call 888721151,
"Gertie" 2:20
I am dirty, and I live in the middle of the desert,
Scott Benner 2:26
and it's dirty. You live in the middle of a dirty desert, so gross. You mean like dusty. There's
"Gertie" 2:35
so much dust. No matter how many times I sleep and mop and dust, it's just dirty.
Scott Benner 2:41
Have you considered leaving no not for a few years?
"Gertie" 2:47
I do, but I want to wait until my recent high school graduate son is settled before I leave
Scott Benner 2:55
I see okay? 41 Oh, congratulations. Nice age. Not sure about that. Let's see what you're not sure about what don't you like about it so far?
"Gertie" 3:06
The lack of metabolism thing, it's like dying.
Scott Benner 3:14
I'm with you on that. I are. You have any creaky joints yet?
"Gertie" 3:18
Or my hips when I was born were slightly rotated, so they're like crooked, and so the heat helps, but I can't sleep if it's warm. So it has to be icy cold,
Scott Benner 3:31
and they ache. So living in the heat helps your hips, but you can't sleep in the heat. It is.
Unknown Speaker 3:42
Do you have type one?
"Gertie" 3:43
My recent high school graduate has type one, and then my younger son, who hates me, has type one.
Scott Benner 3:54
Why does he hate you? Because
"Gertie" 3:56
we have differences of opinions. He thinks that he should be allowed to do whatever he wants, and I have rules at my house. So he's with his dad, because dad has no rules.
Scott Benner 4:09
He moved out. He is 14,
"Gertie" 4:10
and he was only with me for a year while his he's always lived with his dad. He's a daddy's boy, but I've always been, you know, an active part in his life, but he didn't like the rules, and so he went back to his staff.
Scott Benner 4:26
Gotcha is living in the desert like watching rango? Yeah, it is. I was pretty sure that's what it was. So wait a minute. So you have other type one, obviously your kids, but how about in the extended family? Do you see type one or other autoimmune on
"Gertie" 4:44
my biological mother's side? We don't know anything about my dad's biological dad and his family, so as far as we know, I'm the first i. But my dad did develop type one a couple of years ago
Scott Benner 5:06
and ultimately died from it. What is he was 6263 well, how does that kill in a couple he just didn't take care of himself like
"Gertie" 5:19
I flew out there for three weeks. I shared all the information. I called him all the time. I followed his Dexcom. He just didn't care. But also, my dad was a meth addict. Oh, the methyl.
Scott Benner 5:33
Oh yeah, a little bit,
but he beat lung cancer. But lung cancer didn't need insulin. How do you beat lung cancer? Maybe the meth helped. I think
"Gertie" 5:46
he lied to me about beating the lung cancer just to make me feel better, because despite his poor life choices, he was a wonderful father. He was very present, very active. Father daughter dates, chaperone field trips, all the conferences at school. Was at my track meet. Father daughter, work days. I mean, he was very, very present in my life.
Scott Benner 6:04
Yeah, Curti, are you trying to tell me that you think that your dad had no
"Gertie" 6:09
my dad was diagnosed with lung cancer,
Scott Benner 6:13
right? But I'm saying never really beat lung cancer and told you he did so that you wouldn't worry about him. Did he know that? You knew he did meth? Interesting and but once he got type one diabetes, a thing you have, he let it kill I don't
"Gertie" 6:30
think it was on purpose. I think he just thought that regardless, he would live forever,
Scott Benner 6:36
because meth and cancer, right? It's a rock solid, you know what? You can't, you really can't fall.
Unknown Speaker 6:43
I mean,
Scott Benner 6:48
he's dumb, he's he's gone. Now we're gonna, we're gonna be respectful, but, but I'm saying if, like, if you feel like cancer didn't get you, you use meth and it doesn't kill you. When someone goes sugar in, your blood's a little too high, you're probably whatever, yeah,
"Gertie" 7:02
probably like what he thought he's gonna live forever?
Scott Benner 7:07
Yeah, I'm sorry. How long ago died
"Gertie" 7:09
on my birthday last year?
Scott Benner 7:13
Jesus Christ. Do you think he did that on purpose? No,
"Gertie" 7:16
I'm gonna wait three more days. Fell asleep thinking I'm gonna call my daughter in the morning with my normal birthday shenanigans, and it's going to be great. And he just didn't, and he fell asleep thinking about me.
Scott Benner 7:31
Was he using drugs when you lived
"Gertie" 7:33
with him? No, that that started later in life.
Scott Benner 7:37
He's a late in life. Isn't that bizarre. I mean, it sounds bizarre. Bizarre. I feel like we're never getting to your diabetes. Sorry.
"Gertie" 7:46
He was so present in my life and such a good dad.
Scott Benner 7:51
Even. Do you ever talk about it with him? Like, Hey, Dad, I noticed you're doing meth. What's that about?
"Gertie" 8:00
How I felt about it, and I said,
Scott Benner 8:04
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"Gertie" 9:15
He said, It's not a reflection on me, it's a reflection on you. It's your choice. I don't approve. I know you want to move here to be closer to me, because he lived in Washington. I said that you can't while you're using that. I don't want you around my kids. My kids will not tolerate it. Washington
Scott Benner 9:30
State, yes, upper north. I gotcha think people who live there like, What do you mean by that? I don't. I don't really mean anything by I'm just around so, wow, that's crazy. How about your mom?
"Gertie" 9:43
I don't have anything to do with her. Okay, she is that crazy. Oh, I
Scott Benner 9:48
see, yes. All right, fair enough. I was like, hoping you'd say something like, Oh, she's the CEO of Oscar de la Renta.
"Gertie" 9:56
Wouldn't that be great? No, my partner's mom. Mom and my ex husband mom are my moms. They're they're my moms.
Scott Benner 10:05
What's the implications on you growing up with BET crazy mom,
"Gertie" 10:09
I have complex PTSD. I have severe anxiety. I don't do people because I don't trust them, because I couldn't trust her.
Scott Benner 10:20
You know all this, but it's, it's not something you can can impact. I chose to be a better parent. Okay, well, what about for you personally, though, like, like, you know, wouldn't it be nice to trust somebody?
"Gertie" 10:33
I have a few select people in my life that I can trust, but I'm very, very cautious about who I let into my life. Fair enough.
Scott Benner 10:44
How come the dad thing didn't bother you? How come the crazy bothered you
"Gertie" 10:48
never lied to me? Okay, my mother lied so
Scott Benner 10:52
I'll tell you right now. We should stop the episode. Eight minutes and 42 seconds. There's your lesson for today. Doesn't matter what your truth is. Be honest with the people you love,
"Gertie" 11:01
right? Yes, exactly. Just tell the truth, right?
Scott Benner 11:05
Yeah, not always going to be fun, not always going to be what you want to hear
"Gertie" 11:08
it. It sucked when my dad told me, but he was honest. He has been honest with me since I was as a child. He always made it age appropriate, but he never lied to me, right? That's interesting, and that made a huge difference in our relationship, versus my biological mother, who lied all the time. Right?
Scott Benner 11:28
You ever seek therapy for this? Or do you I have
"Gertie" 11:31
been in therapy off and on most of my life, and when my dad passed away, I went back to therapy because I couldn't handle it.
Scott Benner 11:38
Yeah, it's a lot. I want you to know that I recorded the like 30 seconds before you thought you were being recorded. It's you telling me you have ADHD, oh, that's fine. I almost responded then, but I wanted to wait until we got farther into the conversation to see how it would go. But in 10 minutes, I already have my answer. I'm genuinely and frequently fascinated that people who have ADHD tell me, I have ADHD, I'm going to be all over the place. And then when I talk to them, I don't find them to be that way. Oh, it'll happen, I'm sure, because it hasn't happened so far. You know that, right? Yes, yeah. Like you're on task,
"Gertie" 12:17
really hard on staying on topic, I can do it, but it sometimes I can't. Okay, like, I just saw the pink stapler, and think I hate that thing, but it works so well on stapling. No, no, it is terrible. Well, let's
Scott Benner 12:34
throw it out. You want to get a new one.
"Gertie" 12:37
We have a really, really good one, but my partner used it, and nobody knows what he did with it, because he didn't put it back. Well, this
Scott Benner 12:44
is his problem. He has to find it or replace it. He doesn't live with us. Well, wait a minute, then go to his house, it's probably there, and take your pink stapler and swap them. That would be fun, right? Yeah? Be like, here. You take the shitty pink stapler. I'm gonna take the good one. What's the good one? Is this swing line. They make a nice stapler.
"Gertie" 13:03
I don't know it. It came from Sears. That's all I know. Oh, no kidding, Sears, they
Scott Benner 13:07
still have a Sears. Or is that old? It's that old. No kidding, good for you. Yeah, Sears, yeah. But
"Gertie" 13:15
the feral cat got in my box spring, so I had to cover the bottom of my box spring, but I couldn't find the stapler, so we just bought this cheap one, and I couldn't use it. You
Scott Benner 13:25
paused. So interesting in box spring. You were like, my feral cat got in my box spring. And I was like, where is this going? But then I noticed you met your bed. So I was like, what is happening? Hey, tell people about the email you sent me the other day and why you sent it. Which email the one that you were like, I don't know if I can do this. Oh gosh,
"Gertie" 13:44
I have been dealing with cluster migraines for the last two months. So it's this nasty, vicious cycle where they hit, light, noise, sensitivity, nausea, vomiting, the most agonizing pain ever. They last anywhere from 15 minutes to three to four hours, and then, like, I have a half an hour where I kind of feel like crap, but then I'm fine for a while, and then they hit again, and so if it hits, I have to go lay on my bathroom floor. Is that
Scott Benner 14:17
something you've talked obviously you've talked to a physician about, but how do you try to manage it? Or can you not?
"Gertie" 14:22
Um, well, I've been through like, four or five different migraine meds, and none of them work. My neurologist is booked out until February, so I'm seeing a new one next month. We are hoping that I can get the new migraine injection, because I am a perfect candidate for it, okay? And since you know diabetes perfectly capable of doing it myself.
Scott Benner 14:47
Is it a daily or a weekly?
"Gertie" 14:48
I'm not sure. I don't know much about it yet. I'll find out more at the neurology appointment next month, I think. But my primary also suggested that while Gabe piercings don't. Have any medical statistics saying that it works. She's had several patients that have done it, and it's helped. My cousin on my mom's side had it done, and she's had one migraine in like, two years, and she had it
Scott Benner 15:14
done. So I'm sorry. I feel like I misheard you had what done. My
"Gertie" 15:18
it's a date piercing, so it's part of the cartilage in your ear, okay, so getting it pierced somehow helps.
Scott Benner 15:26
What if you just cut your whole ear off, like Van Gogh? Do you think Van Gogh had migraines, maybe? Oh, wait a minute. Now, we're onto something, rewriting history with Scott. It's my new podcast. I like it, yay. Oh, wouldn't that be fun? That would be pick like big historical events and just making Henry the Eighth and make stuff up about it for an hour on podcast. That would be so fun. Gertie, I'm sorry, I just gotta sit up for a second. You're a layback episode. I laid way back in my chair to talk to you, but I'm just gonna make a note here. First of all, I want everybody hear me say this. Don't take my idea. Okay. Now the next idea is rewrite history podcast, I think is a great idea. I also have another idea for a podcast. It's called argue with Scott. Podcast, everything says podcast B, you just pick a topic and we argue about it for an hour. That could be fun. I think it's going to be. It's going to be great. These are my after type one diabetes ideas. I like that, yeah, because eventually I'm going to get, I don't know, don't you imagine one day I'm just going to wake up and go, I can't talk to another person with diabetes. I got to stop.
"Gertie" 16:38
I could see that, I could see that I honestly
Scott Benner 16:40
don't feel like that, but there I am trying to be prepared for the future. So there's arguing with Scott and rewriting history. Boy, those are, that
"Gertie" 16:49
is a great one. I would have so much fun with that
Scott Benner 16:52
one. Rewriting history with Scott. Yeah, we could just make I am obsessed
"Gertie" 16:56
with, like the War of the Roses and the tutor on our screen, so I could have a lot of fun with that one.
Scott Benner 17:05
I don't know how you guys order your diabetes supplies, like CGMS, pumps and testing equipment, but at our house, we use us Med, and I'm gonna walk you through the entire process right now. I'm looking at the email from us med. It says it's time to refill your prescription, dear Arden, please click the button below to place your next order. Then you click the button that was it. Two days later, I got this email, thank you for your order from us med. We wanted to let you know that your order and it gives you an order number was shipped via UPS ground. You can track your package at any time using the link below, and then there was a link, and then it showed up at our house. Now I'm going to walk you through the entire chain of events. On the 29th which was the Saturday I clicked on the email. On that Monday, the first I got an email that said the order had been sent four days later on the fifth the package arrived. If you can do it easier than that, you go get it. But if you can't, us, med.com/juice, box or call 888-721-1514, get started today with us. Med, get your diabetes supplies the same way we do. This episode is sponsored by Medtronic diabetes. Learn more about hyperglycemia at Medtronic diabetes.com/hyper
Speaker 1 18:29
Well, Hi, I'm Heather lackey. I am a wife and mom. I have two children that are seniors in high school, and I've had type one diabetes for 34 years. And I'm a dietitian and a diabetes educator. You know, I'm the Director of Global Medical Education. I lead a team of clinicians that are developing content. How
Scott Benner 18:51
do you feel when your blood sugar's high? Irritable, thirsty, hungry. What do you enjoy most about your job? See
Speaker 1 19:00
education working, see people thriving. That's kind of the fuel that feeds, you know, my fire.
Scott Benner 19:08
What would you like to see community members talk about more hyperglycemia
Speaker 1 19:12
is the critical thing, right? That leads to short term and long term complications. Hyperglycemia is the greatest unmet need in the treatment of diabetes currently, and I think that that's where technology can help
Scott Benner 19:27
if you're having trouble with hyperglycemia. And would like to talk to other people in the diabetes community. Check out the Medtronic champions hashtag, or go to Medtronic diabetes.com/hyper What about I heard where we just have someone come on to talk about something they don't know a goddamn thing about, oh, that
"Gertie" 19:44
would be fun too,
Scott Benner 19:46
but they've heard stuff about, oh,
"Gertie" 19:47
could we put my partner on that one?
Scott Benner 19:49
I'm sure there's gonna be a never ending line to people to be on that one. Oh, that one. I'm watching it play out in the Facebook group today as I put up episode 1230 he says. And. Isn't sure about the number, yeah, 1230 it's this 58 year old guy had type one for eight years. They put him on Manjaro a couple years ago, and he's completely off insulin. And so he comes on to tell his story, and, you know, like, and he was very kind, and he said, If you want to, you know, put up a post in the private group, I'd be happy to stop by and try to answer questions. So this post has been up for about an hour and a half now. It's already reached 14,000 of the members of the of the group. It's got 171 comments. Most of them are just people who are like, I would like to understand this guy's story, which is really what we're looking for. We're not saying, Yeah, you know, obviously no one's saying, Manjaro, like cures type one diabetes. That's not the case. No one's saying that, etc. But once in a while, someone will pop in and say the craziest thing, like, there's a picture along with the post, and the picture is clearly AI created, right? I went into into chat GPT four. Oh, and I said, 50 year old man. Like, give me a picture of a 50 year old man with diabetes. Man with diabetes, and it basically takes and makes a man sitting in his room, and there's a meter on his table. It's it. And a woman comes into the group and says, Well, this man has gray hair, so obviously he's type two.
"Gertie" 21:18
Oh, my goodness, great. Would it
Scott Benner 21:20
be to have her on the podcast and say, Okay, let's start here. People with gray hair don't have type one diabetes, you've heard, right? And then just start. And then, then, like, on this episode of I heard, like, you know what? I mean, it's a great idea. Also, I had another episode. I had another podcast idea for a series with Arden, but I couldn't get her to do it with me. Oh no. I was gonna call it I don't understand. And then I was gonna have her come on and pick a different thing every episode that she didn't understand, and we were gonna talk about together and learn about it.
"Gertie" 21:55
Well, I can give you an I don't understand from my perspective. Go ahead, 19 year old swags. It does a count carb, nothing, just swags. It Dexcom g6 and he maintains a 6.0 A, 1c, well, I
Scott Benner 22:11
mean, Arden doesn't count carbs. So, oh, hey,
"Gertie" 22:15
so it's a thing. Yeah, a lot of people don't
Scott Benner 22:17
count carbs after they've had diabetes for a while. How long have you had type one.
"Gertie" 22:20
I was diagnosed right after my 18th birthday. He was diagnosed right before his second birthday. So you've
Scott Benner 22:28
had it for 23 years. He's had it
"Gertie" 22:33
for 16 July. Okay,
Scott Benner 22:36
let's not, you know, be so specific, yeah. I
"Gertie" 22:38
mean, look over his full management around 10.
Scott Benner 22:43
Is he managing better than you were when you were helping him? Yeah,
"Gertie" 22:46
honestly, he is the way he does. It totally works for him.
Scott Benner 22:52
Have you ever tried to ask him to show you like, like how
"Gertie" 22:56
just doesn't make sense to me.
Scott Benner 22:59
So the way I think about it is, like historical knowledge, like you look at food and say, Okay, I've eaten something like this previously. It took about four units of insulin, so I'm gonna bolus four units of insulin for it. Is that not like sensible to you?
"Gertie" 23:18
I mean, it is, but my brain doesn't think that way. How do it think? It thinks you must count carbs if you're going to eat them, like it's been so ingrained in my head that you have to count carbs. Oh, okay, I don't count carbs, but that's because I don't eat carbs. I am a low carb or high protein,
Scott Benner 23:39
but you still any carbs you have, you're covering,
"Gertie" 23:42
yeah, but it's minimal insulin, so I don't have to worry about the risk of severe lows, like, sometimes the foods he eats, he's taking 1520 units. And I'm just like, oh my gosh, you're gonna die. So
Scott Benner 23:55
this is interesting. Let us dig into this. Also. I'm gonna keep my notes here. I don't understand. I heard these are, these might be good starting points for conversations you've had type one for a long time. You were diagnosed at not a real young age, but a young enough age, at a time where everything was counting carbs, yeah, for good.
"Gertie" 24:17
I mean, even with new foods, he tries, he just swags it and nails it.
Scott Benner 24:23
But I'm trying to get to why. I want to shine a light on where you're at so point, I think the point is, I've talked to a lot of people, so I'm going to make some generalizations here. You tell me if I'm right or wrong, right. So they beat it into your head about counting carbs. You do that. Things don't go particularly well for you as far as outcomes, and eventually you transition to low carb. Is that about what happened? Because
"Gertie" 24:44
counting carbs doesn't honestly work, ah, but that's what happened to you? Yeah, yeah. And then that's probably why my son doesn't count carbs.
Scott Benner 24:52
But then you get super low carb, and what are your outcomes? Like fabulous anyone sees in the fives or. Fives, right? How many carbs a day? Less than 15. Yes, okay. Are you super ripped? No, you don't have, like, a washboard abs or something like that. No, I'm
"Gertie" 25:11
actually kind of chunky.
Scott Benner 25:14
How do you feel about that? Are you like, god damn it, low carb? What happened?
"Gertie" 25:18
I didn't switch for, like, weight loss, I've lost weight but it wasn't about weight loss for me, it was about preventing the severe lows and the swings. For me, I have a freakishly weird body, so if I eat like, one piece of bread and dose for it, I shoot up to, like, 500
Scott Benner 25:40
so what if I said to you, I bet you I could make a bolus for you and your and bread wouldn't make you 500
"Gertie" 25:48
oh my gosh, that would be so great. I miss bread so much. Okay, well, I love to bake homemade bread. Well, that's a lost art in your life, though, right? Oh yeah, from scratch. No bread maker. Oh, fancy, yes.
Speaker 2 26:03
I It's, do you cook it outside on an Adobe? No, I wish
"Gertie" 26:09
I did try it in the air fryer once. That didn't work out so well, really, how would that? Yeah, my oven decided it didn't want to work one night. So you tried that? Yeah, it did not cook in the middle
Scott Benner 26:21
Gertie. I can't believe I got Adobe off the top of my head. That was fabulous. I was really impressed with myself. Because I'm like, I'm impressed with that one too, because I was like, she said, desert. I'll make a joke here. What are those little domy ovens called? And I just plucked that out of the sky like, after I said it. I thought I'm probably wrong with that, but I was right. Oh,
"Gertie" 26:40
you, you got it right? That's That was impressive. Not bad.
Scott Benner 26:43
No, no, I'm gonna, I'm gonna live off that joy for at least 20 minutes, just so you all know how it works. That's good. That's good because I do Adobe oven. You think people right now are like Adobe's Photoshop. What are we talking about right now? So you would like to eat carbs, but you don't, because this is the only thing you found that you can kind of manage your health with. It
"Gertie" 27:05
works. Oh, it definitely, I think the only carb I would go back to eating is bread. Occasionally. I also don't like the way it makes me feel. I get really lethargic and I just kind of feel up, which was another reason for, like, giving them up.
Scott Benner 27:21
Do you have that crazy low carb energy? I do, yeah, like, super, like, focused, like, that kind of vibe.
"Gertie" 27:30
I don't do focus real well, but I have lots of energy. And then throw in my bipolar disorder. So when I'm like, in a manic high, I irritate myself. Are
Scott Benner 27:42
you telling me that one half of your brain irritates the other half of your brain? So what you're trying to say, Yes. Wasn't sure if you were making bipolar humor or not, but it felt like that's what was happening.
"Gertie" 27:52
I am a train
Scott Benner 27:55
wreck because, you know, like, if I joke about it first, and people are like, he's very insensitive. She said she had bipolar disorder, and he made a joke. Really hard to offend me, no, but that's what you meant, right? Yeah, okay, yeah, no. So I have to be honest with you, I have been, as the Yiddish would say, sitting on spilkas for 24 minutes wondering if you were bipolar, because I am absolutely bipolar because of the cluster headaches and the ADHD and the drug addict father,
"Gertie" 28:24
I actually was. My mom's a drug addict too, but she I didn't mean
Scott Benner 28:27
to miss I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shortchange her.
"Gertie" 28:31
My parents were train wrecks too. I am the one that changed it all.
Scott Benner 28:35
So is her batch crazy clinical probably a lot of trauma
"Gertie" 28:39
from her childhood, and then my dad had similar trauma, so it's like this big vicious cycle, yeah, and my kids have some trauma. I was not the best parent at first, but I figured it out. Where did you go wrong in the beginning? Temper, lack of patience, discipline, I can definitely say that some of the discipline may have crossed the line when they were younger,
Scott Benner 29:05
like your socks don't match, so I just crack you in the mouth like that.
"Gertie" 29:08
No, no, no, I think I was harsher than it called for, okay, not physically, though, I spanked my 19 year old once and cried, and he was about four, he got a SWAT on the butt, and never again. Okay. Plus, it didn't work.
Scott Benner 29:28
If I found your ex, he's an ex, right? The guy who you're 14 year olds with, yes, yeah, if I found him and said, Hey, describe Gertie to me, what do you think he'd say horrible, horrible things because they're true or because he's lying.
"Gertie" 29:44
We have a very volatile relationship, and while I'm able to look past that and try and do it best for our child, he is stuck in the past and can't move forward so he
Scott Benner 29:57
remembers you the way you were. Yeah. Yeah, okay, I think that's common, by the way
"Gertie" 30:02
it is, and it's like, I'm not, I'm not that person anymore. Yeah, it's hard done a lot of growing and healing, and every day, I try to be a better version of myself, for myself and for my kids and for the people in my life, right?
Scott Benner 30:16
So I think this is so common, like, because you actually mentioned it earlier, right? Like, if you think about it, like the way you grew up, imprinted on you, and now you know, you know you're like, This isn't right. I shouldn't feel this way, but you can't stop yourself, and I don't know that that's so different from I was with you when you were like this, and now you're not like that anymore, but this is how you've imprinted on me, so this is how I feel about you,
"Gertie" 30:44
yeah, and that's that's what it is. My ex husband, my older two boys, Dad and I are best friends. Best friend. He's my go to and I'm his go to. Gotcha like we have traveled to visit him. I stay at his house. We do stuff together, we talk almost daily. He was able to look past the person I was when we were together and see who I am today. That
Scott Benner 31:14
makes sense. And so that's my best friend. Nice. So you use medication for the cluster headaches you use doesn't work. It doesn't work. Use insulin. You're thinking about getting something in your ear pierced to try to, like, remove that a little bit. What do you take for the bipolar or anything?
"Gertie" 31:31
My official diagnosis just came along with the ADHD, so I'm not medicated yet. Okay.
Scott Benner 31:40
Is that something you're working towards?
"Gertie" 31:41
I think so. They have a gene testing now where they can tell you what medications will work best with your body. So I will do that before I start medication.
Scott Benner 31:56
How did that high fluten doctor and make it out to the desert?
"Gertie" 31:59
I don't know. I just asked my primary about it, and they knew,
Scott Benner 32:03
yeah, is the doctor's office dusty?
"Gertie" 32:06
It's not quite as deserty where her doctor's office is. So no, I drive an hour for my primary because she's the
Scott Benner 32:15
best. Let me ask you a question, are you driving very slow and it's close to your house? You're driving very fast and it's far away, or somewhere in between?
"Gertie" 32:22
I do the speed limit, okay? So the I get a little road Reggie when people in front of me go under the speed limit. So under is not okay. Overs is over better if you're in front of me. Yeah, I had
Scott Benner 32:34
a very bad day yesterday, and I went out for a fast drive to pump up my adrenaline, to try to kick
"Gertie" 32:39
out my gosh, I love going fast, but it's not my truck,
Scott Benner 32:44
so I follow the rules. I understand. Okay, so this place is about 60 miles from your house. Am I guessing right? Yeah, interesting. Yeah.
"Gertie" 32:50
You know how I figured out my endo is a three and a half hour drive, so I go in person once a year, and the rest is telehealth. Holy
Scott Benner 32:57
hell, how far in miles is that? Seriously?
Unknown Speaker 33:02
Sure? A lot, a
Scott Benner 33:03
lot. Yeah, is that just the best endo you can find? What makes you go that far to get to them?
"Gertie" 33:09
I tried the ones in my area that my insurance covered, and I could not handle them. This one asked me what my a, 1c, was, and what I what age I was diagnosed at, and decided, after 20 years that I was type two, oh, 140 miles. And so that was just a no. And then told me the high breakout on my chest was a thyroid problem.
Scott Benner 33:38
How is your TSH,
"Gertie" 33:39
normal?
Scott Benner 33:40
What's that mean? What's the number? Um, I
"Gertie" 33:42
don't have my lab work in front of me. It's okay.
Scott Benner 33:45
Sometimes they'll tell you it's normal. When it's high, is all I'm saying.
"Gertie" 33:48
Yeah, no, I have chronic hives. It's interesting because
Scott Benner 33:53
my son got, my son's only indicator for, like, outward indicator for Hashimotos was hives. I
"Gertie" 34:00
started getting hives, like, three days after my dad brought me home from the hospital. When I was born, it's been a lifelong condition for me. There's
Scott Benner 34:08
a biologic for that too, you know, yeah, because you're because the thing for the headaches, that's a biologic, right? Yep, yeah. Interesting, interesting. I have a question that has nothing to do with anything, but everything to do with this. Okay, when you're bipolar, how do you trust your reactions? Like, when your doctor says something to you and you're like this, ladies and idiot, how do you not go or maybe she's not self control. So how, what do you have to, like, go home and think about it later. Or, how do you how do you manage it? A
"Gertie" 34:41
lot of I call my ex husband or my grandma. I used to call my dad, but, yeah,
Scott Benner 34:49
no, I understand. So we so you'll call and say, Look, this happened. This is what they said. This is what my response was. Can you tell me if this is. Reasonable? Yes,
"Gertie" 35:01
that is what I do, because I can't always trust my reactions, so I have to get advice or validation from someone else to make sure that you know I'm not overreacting, underreacting.
Scott Benner 35:17
No, yeah, that's what I was wondering about. And if you and I, if I interviewed you every day for a month, would I eventually meet a person who's not at all like you are right now? Oh, absolutely. How would that conversation go? Would you like be combative?
"Gertie" 35:31
I could be yes, although I'm pretty good at maintaining control when I feel that way or I isolate myself because I'm not gonna upset everyone else because I have a chemical imbalance. How do you know to do that? If I catch myself getting snarky, I'm just like, Okay, guys, bye. I'll let all I'll come out when it's time, because
Scott Benner 35:56
you just know I'm gonna say something. Why do you care, though, if you're in that space, how come it's not more cartoonish, like in the movies? Like, seriously, like, why are you not like? Why do you just like, suddenly not
"Gertie" 36:07
care, and I don't want to be like my mother and hurt them
Scott Benner 36:11
I see was your mom clinically. You called her patch crazy earlier. Now it's just stuck in my head, but she doesn't have
"Gertie" 36:20
any official diagnosis, because she doesn't believe in it, but, but there is depression, I'm sure some anxiety, probably bipolar. Your kids do? They
Scott Benner 36:33
have any issues like this?
"Gertie" 36:34
My youngest son definitely needs an evaluation, which is part of the reason why he hates me, because I tried to have him evaluated, but my goal was to see if there was anything going on and to learn as much as I could so that I could be the best parent to him and give him what he needed from me. Yeah,
Scott Benner 36:58
but that's hard. I mean, you can see, right, like, if, if the same thing happened to you, do you think you'd have a similar response to his? I
"Gertie" 37:06
actually asked my dad, when I was living with him, if I could be admitted to be evaluated, and him and my stepmom, because back, you know, when I was a teenager, mental health wasn't a big thing. It was hush hush where we lived and that time, so it never happened, but I honestly wished my parents had because maybe
Scott Benner 37:36
I would have had better luck
"Gertie" 37:39
as I grew up, you know, better understanding of my mental health and what I needed to do so that I didn't lash out or do some of the things that I've done. Yeah, you
Scott Benner 37:51
might have been so far ahead of the curve on that that, who knows if the help would have helped or not.
"Gertie" 37:56
Hopefully, it would have. But, I mean, I can't go back and change it.
Scott Benner 37:59
Yeah, that's for sure, because if you could, you'd own a time machine, and we be rich, you and I, because I go to business with
"Gertie" 38:06
you, and you know, I probably wouldn't have my kids. And even though my 14 year old's kind of rotten, he's my kid, and I adore him when he's being nice. Can you be kind of rotten sometimes? Yeah, but when I noticed myself being rotten, I tell my family, I'm i I'm agitated, irritable, snarky. I'm gonna go in my room and stay there until it passes.
Scott Benner 38:26
Maybe he'll learn that over time. I hope so. Yeah, I mean, 14 is a little early to figure that out.
"Gertie" 38:31
My 19 year old type one he when we first moved down here, he had a lot of anger issues about it, and so I decided that we would do therapy so that we could communicate with each other and learn how to communicate with each other. And it was amazing. It helped so much.
Scott Benner 38:53
It's lovely that you're doing this for your kids when you know
"Gertie" 38:56
I want to be better than my mother was. It sounds like you've done that. I think that I have. I think I've done a good job with my boys. Is that fulfilling it is? It really is like when I got to watch my recent graduate graduate, I was a sobbing mess. I mean, I never in a million years thought that that was that I would be able to get my children through school and be able to support them and help them make it happen. Hit
Scott Benner 39:26
a milestone like that in a happy, expected way.
"Gertie" 39:30
Yeah, I I mean, and my oldest son is getting his GED. He's got a pretty decent part time job. He has some issues, like anxiety issues. So he doesn't work full time, but He's respectful, polite, a productive part of society, and so is my 19 year old. He is fabulous.
Scott Benner 39:52
Very nice. Look at you. Congratulations.
"Gertie" 39:55
Like other than that few months when we first moved down here, I've never. I had any issues with my oldest kids. Have you heard of senior assassin?
Scott Benner 40:04
Is it something like in the last couple weeks of school where you pick somebody and, like, pull a name out of a hat and you have to, like, pretend, kill them somehow? High School,
"Gertie" 40:13
it's kind of nationwide. You have teams of three or four. You get pool floaties for your arms and squirt guns, and your goal is to take out other teams, and it's a $500 pot at the end of it for the last team
Scott Benner 40:32
I have heard about this. Okay, so
"Gertie" 40:35
our school, our high school, participated in this, and I was sleeping, and my 14 year old was with me, so he comes and knocks on my door, and he goes, my brother got home, brought home by the police. And I'm thinking, What? No, not him, you maybe, but not him. So I'm thinking, this kid's messing with me. And I go open my front door, and my jaw hit the ground, because there's my son with the police officer, because the girl knew his group was coming to her house, told it them to bring it on. And then her parents saw, you know, four kids creeping around with sport guns and called the police.
Scott Benner 41:15
Well, that's not bad. That just sounds fun.
"Gertie" 41:18
My son was super, super respectful, listen to the officer and goes, you know, maybe, maybe nighttime was not a good time to do this. Like, you're right. This, this could be, yeah, it could be dangerous. Like, what if they had a gun and pulled it on me? And the officer's like, yeah, totally. So because of his respectful behavior, they just brought him home about that. Yeah, the officer left, and I'm like, walking through the house, if my son turns around, he's like, are you gonna yell at me? I'm trying really hard not to laugh, actually.
Scott Benner 41:50
Well, that's nice. I can't believe they let it. They let them call it senior assassin.
"Gertie" 41:54
It's not associated through the school districts. It's just something seniors do. They do, like, I don't know where it came from, but it's not through the school district. It's not associated with the schools at all. I know a lot
Scott Benner 42:05
of kids just quit in the middle of it. They're like, Oh, my God, $500 I can't go through this for all this time again. We have to split the money. I've heard people do it. They seem like they have fun.
"Gertie" 42:17
Thank you. I thought it sounded like a lot of fun when he told me about it,
Scott Benner 42:22
yeah, yeah, for sure, how long have you been low carb?
"Gertie" 42:26
Um, it's been a couple of years. Okay,
Scott Benner 42:29
and you said bread you'd want back. But like, let me just ask you, kind of like, this question, if your boluses went the way you wanted, if they went the way your sons do when he boluses for himself, would you change from low carb? Or would you just go, No, I like eating like this. I
"Gertie" 42:44
really like eating like this. I feel so much better. I have energy. When I'm not in a manic high, I sleep really good.
Scott Benner 42:54
It's valuable for you. It is, yeah,
"Gertie" 42:57
I do. I feel better. I have more energy. I still can't focus for the life of me, but I do, I feel better overall.
Scott Benner 43:04
That's excellent. I'm glad you passed on the work. So,
"Gertie" 43:06
like, who doesn't want to eat steak? Like, good steak.
Scott Benner 43:10
We did a low carb diet, I mean, years ago, to try to lose weight, a long time ago now, and it worked. Like, you know, I lost weight. I wasn't using insulin, so I don't know, you know, obviously, what impact it would have had on that. I found it unsustainable. After a while, kind of felt like I ran out of things to eat. Definitely. I mean, it definitely worked. And I think anything that people do that worked for them is fantastic. I just think that it's if I were to pluck you out of whatever year you were diagnosed and bring you forward to 2024 and say, Hey, you're diagnosed. Now you're a teenager. Here's a CGM and a pump that has an algorithm in it. I think you probably don't end up having the same experience.
"Gertie" 43:50
That's definitely true. When I was diagnosed, I didn't get a lot of education. No one even told me this was a lifelong condition. Oh, really. So I assumed that the files of insulin I got were like antibiotics. When you were done with them, you were better. No, no kidding. That's how my diagnosis went. Let me ask
Scott Benner 44:09
you another question before we started me, we made the decision to make you anonymous, because you said you didn't think people were gonna like you when this was over. But now we're 45 minutes into it, and I don't know what you were talking about. Well, because I
"Gertie" 44:21
have a I don't care that I have diabetes. I don't care that my kids have diabetes. It doesn't impact our life negatively, no matter what. Like a couple of years ago, I went grocery shopping with my partner's mom, and my son was 17 at the time, and we came home with fried chicken, and he, like, stumbled out, and I thought he had just woken up from a nap. Okay, no big deal. I don't hear his Dexcom screaming, so I watched him walk down the hallway, drop a piece of chicken and go into his room, and I'm like, Hmm, that's not right. Right? So I grabbed a glucagon and the meter that I keep on the bar in the kitchen and followed him, and he was having a seizure. So I'm like, prepping the glucagon, checking his finger. It just read low, stabbed him in the leg, made sure he didn't hurt himself. I read my book out loud, and he starts coming too, and he's like, What are you doing? And I'm like, you had a low, induced seizure. And he's like, I was sleeping. And I said, Well, what happened to your Dexcom? And so we get his phone because there were no alerts, yeah. And he goes, my phone is off. I'm like, do you think it's possible you turned it off while you were sleeping because it was beeping, and he goes, that's really rare, but I was pretty tired, and I'm like, okay,
Scott Benner 45:50
okay, but why would that make people not like you?
"Gertie" 45:52
Because I don't care that he had a seizure. I mean, there's nothing I can do to change it. It happened. We called this Endo, let her know we did a telehealth appointment. I'm not going to sit there and cry about it or be angry and nor is He. He's just going to go, Okay, what did I learn about this? So
Scott Benner 46:09
what I was going to say is this, I have a lot of experience talking to the public, and you can always find somebody who's going to find fault with anything that's true. You have to look at it as a whole and say, if there are, I don't know, 10,000 eyes on this statement, and three people are ranting and raving at me, then 9997 of them don't have problem with it, and that's true, yeah, and I don't, and so I don't, I don't make my decisions based on what one or two people say that's true, yeah, especially when it's so common. Just, it's just so human to have a knee jerk reaction to something, say the first thing that comes to mind, not really consider the implications of the entirety of perspective. And just say, like, like I said earlier, like, oh, that person has gray hair, so they must have type two diabetes. Like, well, if you sit down with that person, if I found that person, and I really sat and talked to them, and they were on my I heard podcast, and I was like, All right, today's topic is, I heard, if you have gray hair, you can't have type one diabetes. It has to be type two. And then I let them talk. And then an hour later, we get done, I'm sure they'd say, hey, you know you're right. I was just being bombastic or, like, you know, overly simplifying my thoughts. I obviously don't think that. And so I I wouldn't take and I also wasn't trying to prove her right or wrong. I just responded back, and I said to her, have you listened to the episode? I'd hate to think that this is like, devolved into us just, you know, making decisions based on an AI generated image, which is not of the person who's in the episode, or maybe AI is just so good now, like, I should be like, Wow, I can't believe nobody that she didn't notice that was not a real human being in that photo. I think if you could talk to her, she'd be okay. So, like, my point is, is that you have not said one thing that I think people find objectionable. Now, can we find somebody to be upset? Go ahead, ask your question. I'm only here.
"Gertie" 48:14
Why do people carry all of their diabetes supplies, like including the kitchen sink? Everybody carries so much stuff and don't understand it. What's a rapid acting pen? Close packs, and there's a glucose meter in my truck. That's it. Okay. Do
Scott Benner 48:29
you have glucagon with you?
"Gertie" 48:31
I think there's a G vo in the truck. There
Scott Benner 48:33
you go. Hypo pen they I'm assuming you're not supposed to store it at that temperature. And I probably signed something that says, I'm gonna say that out loud, but I
"Gertie" 48:42
think so too, okay, which is why I'm not 100% sure if it's in the truck.
Scott Benner 48:47
So you carry low snacks, a meter, a pen, glucose.
"Gertie" 48:52
I use the tandem pump. Well, normally,
Scott Benner 48:55
you see people carrying around, though, that you're questioning, but like people with
"Gertie" 48:59
they like carry extra cartridges and the infusion sites, and they carry the glucose meter, and they carry this that, and they all make these four kids carry these backpacks with all the like sling bags or fanny packs.
Scott Benner 49:13
You think little kids are walking around with extra sites.
"Gertie" 49:16
I've seen it posted before in some groups, so
Scott Benner 49:19
then, don't you think what you're actually seeing? Listen, I don't want to be reductive, because I think you should do whatever you think is right. But don't you think that sometimes just some type a people are so proud of how they've type a coordinated everything in the end of their type A experience is to take a beautiful photograph of it and share it with other people. Well, I
"Gertie" 49:40
guess, but I just feel bad for the kids that have to carry that around.
Scott Benner 49:45
Those people are listening right now and they're like, I feel bad for you because you were like, you know, you had your own implications in life, too. Yeah, yeah.
"Gertie" 49:53
I mean, I just, I don't know. I never made my son carry all that stuff.
Scott Benner 49:58
Listen I hear what you're saying. My. My kid rolls around most of the time with actually, at this point now she's using trio, the app, the do it yourself algorithm. So she's got her phone, which is, of course, it has the app on it for the the algorithm. It also has an app on it for Dexcom. And so there's a phone. She has glucagon with her. She has test strips a meter. She has the contour next gen meter with her test strips, juicebox, and that's it. Now, here's but here's the wrong it's all she needs. She will carry
"Gertie" 50:38
like Dexcom extra OmniPods. And it's like, you know, if you're still using the g6 you still have the two hour warm up, plus you have to stop what you're doing and go change it, and you still have to poke your finger in that two hour time period. Like we went to Magic Mountain and my son's OmniPod fell off. Okay, so I have a rapid acting pen in my little cell phone case. That is all I take.
Scott Benner 51:06
So you had a backup, though, those people wouldn't have,
"Gertie" 51:09
I have a backup. We always have a rapid acting pen with us, but if you feel the need to carry, you know, extra sites, yeah,
Scott Benner 51:16
no, this is specific to your situation. But what I was going to say is that, you know, if Arden leaves in a car, she can get back in a car, but if she leaves and she goes more than, like 30 minutes away or somewhere where we're gonna spend it like, if we were gonna drive the half an hour to my mother in law's house and swim for the day, we'd bring insulin and extra stuff with us.
"Gertie" 51:39
Cassie, I wouldn't. I would just have the glucose meter and the pen and pen needles,
Scott Benner 51:43
that's it. But the pen is, is extra insulin. Well,
"Gertie" 51:47
it is. Or I could carry syringes and just pull it from the pod or the tandem cartridge, yeah. But also, you could just carry, also, oh, you know what we do, keep a package of syringes in the truck too.
Scott Benner 51:57
I see you're arguing against yourself now,
"Gertie" 51:59
so I am arguing against myself. I just don't see the point of carrying extra Dexcom and pod sites, even if you're going to be gone all
Scott Benner 52:06
day. So Arden went to New York City recently.
"Gertie" 52:09
I would take extra supplies if I were leaving town, okay, for like, more than a day.
Scott Benner 52:13
So you're saying I wouldn't take an extra Dexcom with me if I was going to the grocery store. Well, I mean, I wouldn't either.
"Gertie" 52:22
I'm just saying, that's what you're saying, right? My grocery the grocery stores we use are, like, we do use fries here in town, but a lot of times we'll go elsewhere. So I live way outside of, like, the main city. I live in a little town, so most everything is over an hour away, but I don't take anything with me. So if you so you could be going to take a Dexcom. I went and spent the night with my cousin when she visited over an hour away. I didn't even bring an extra pump site. I think I had a full cartridge. So I just threw some syringes and a glucose meter in there and blow snacks. That was it. That's all I got. But use a pen. You have a pen with you. I did not have a pen because it was empty. Okay. So
Scott Benner 53:03
what if, at 247, in the morning, you would have woke up had no insulin delivery and no pen? Well, I had syringes with me to pull it out of the pump. Yep. So, I mean, I always, always have a backup. What's the difference between carrying syringes and going through the mishegoss, of pulling it out of the pump or just bringing a pump and an insulin with you? What's the difference?
"Gertie" 53:29
Because it's less to put in my purse and less to carry, not,
Scott Benner 53:33
I mean, I mean, Arden has an OmniPod, so it's this little square package. It's only about maybe three quarters of an inch thick, and maybe, I don't know, three inches square, and then Insulin is the size of my pinky, so I don't know, is there really that much difference? It's not like I'm bringing a brick and you're bringing a feather. You know what I mean? This feels like a thing. You're twisted up
"Gertie" 53:58
about doing stuff during the day. I don't want to stop what I'm doing to change my pump or my Dexcom I want to just get my insulin and go, here's
Scott Benner 54:07
the OP. Here's the alternative to that idea. If you're out trying to enjoy your day and you had an insulin pump or Dexcom fail, I'd want you to get it back on immediately so you could go back to enjoying your day. But
"Gertie" 54:20
I would enjoy my damn old day all the same with just using my pen and meter right? So now
Scott Benner 54:25
that we have both given birth to the idea that my idea and your idea makes each of us happy, why does it matter what you see other people do online?
"Gertie" 54:36
I don't know. It's none of my business, honestly, but it's something that like, we brought it up and that I know, but I, like, hyper fixate on it sometimes. Yeah, I mean, that sounds like none of my business, and I'm not judging them. I just, I want to understand.
Scott Benner 54:53
Let me stop. You're not judging them. I don't mean to judge that, okay, but you don't understand. But I've explained. It to you, and every time I've explained it to you, you've argued with
"Gertie" 55:02
me. I'm argumentative. I mean, I guess I understand, but it just
Scott Benner 55:06
is this how argue with Scott would go, this is fantastic. Oh, I like it. I really do enjoy this. Yes,
"Gertie" 55:12
I guess what I think is I just feel bad for those kids that have to carry all those extra supplies, like when you can just throw a meter, I
Scott Benner 55:21
hear what you're saying, and what I'm telling you is I could go find 100 people who would say, I feel sorry for all those kids that don't carry extra supplies and have to draw insulin out of their pump with a syringe all day because their mom just wouldn't bring a pump with
"Gertie" 55:33
them. My My kids don't care. They find they prefer just either having extra syringes in their pocket. Well, they usually use a pen,
Scott Benner 55:42
yeah, but you taught them that. That's why they prefer it
"Gertie" 55:46
well, and I've asked them if they want they carry extra supplies. My older type one has no desire to. He cannot wait for the OmniPod five app on his iPhone. He will be so excited, absolutely. Yeah, no, that will be just bought himself a new iPhone. So it's even more up. Is he using Dexcom g6 or g7 Yes, he's using the g6 Okay, he has seen my struggles with the g7 and it's like no ball weight, all right. So two
Scott Benner 56:10
things, Arden has g7 it's fantastic. There's no struggles with it. By ass, my issue is they don't stay on. Don't have a problem with that. Although I live in the desert. I sweat my point of saying this was I was going to give you some inside information. If what he cares about is the iPhone app or OmniPod five, stay on the g6 for now. He has no desire to switch. All right, let me just say I can't tell you why, but do that for now. Now keep in mind that we're recording in June of 2024 it could be completely different by the time this comes out, but you right now, don't, don't switch from the g6 Okay, okay.
"Gertie" 56:49
I used tandem, so I switched. But yeah,
Scott Benner 56:53
no, listen, are you not using the Dexcom overlay? Is that not working for you?
"Gertie" 56:57
No, I order them from Amazon with our HSA card. So I use right care or skin grip for them, okay, because they don't aggravate my skin nice and skin tack. I use a grip shield from Deck my diabetes. But you're only supposed to put them on your arms, and that does not work for
Scott Benner 57:17
me. So they're not falling off because you're putting overlays on them.
"Gertie" 57:20
I sweat them off. Yes,
Scott Benner 57:25
dear Lord, how much are you sweating? I'm a sweater. It's really gross. That's a great quote. If I did social media around my episodes, I would definitely have you going, I'm a sweater. It's really gross. And then it would be like, check out more with Gertie at episode. I just have time for that, so I don't do it. Yeah, so
"Gertie" 57:45
I don't use them on my arm. I use them on my thighs. My stomach is really inaccurate, so I don't use my stomach.
Oh No kidding. And then I've had two fail recently.
I would get sensor error, and then just fail. And I drink 128 plus ounces of water a day, if not more. We
Scott Benner 58:07
bailed on a g7 day eight and a half this week. I remember saying to Arden, something's funky with that sensor, like earlier in the day. And then we tested and it was reporting much higher than she was. And I was like, oh, and I don't think you should try to ride this one, like, because usually she doesn't have this problem. So I'm just like, just get rid of this one. And she was doing the like, I don't know, man, I don't feel like, change that whole thing was happening. And then I went upstairs and I heard dad, and I'm like, Yeah. And I look back downstairs, and she goes, my sensor just errored. And I was like, Ha, but that's the first g7 that's errored on her since she started and and hasn't made it 10 days. And she's literally been on it since, like, day one.
"Gertie" 58:53
My first four were awful. Okay, the first one wouldn't connect with my pump. So I called tandem. They had me walk through the process. It didn't work, so I pulled it, I put the next one on with my overlay, and I woke up the next morning and it was attached to one of my blankets, the next one I hit on my bedside table.
Scott Benner 59:19
But, but, I mean, that's not a
"Gertie" 59:21
Dexcom problem. No, no. And that was a total. That was a total. Me, I'm a klutz, but it didn't lift or raise or come loose that you could tell. So I was like, Okay, fine. And then, like, an hour later, sensor failed. I'm like, What? What is this? How it's perfectly fine.
Scott Benner 59:39
See, the way I see it is that thing had some sort of a problem, and it did what it was supposed to do and shut off so it wouldn't give you inaccurate ratings,
"Gertie" 59:47
see, and that's nice, but I guess Dexcom has this new thing where you only get three a year when they fail. Yeah,
Scott Benner 59:54
I bet you, if you complain a little bit, that doesn't really happen.
"Gertie" 59:57
Yeah, I I've only heard it. I. Never experienced it, because I just had the call to in for failed. My
Scott Benner 1:00:04
expectation would be, is that there are some people who are foolish and trying to rip off Dexcom, and they're probably trying to, like, find a balance between that.
"Gertie" 1:00:14
And that's totally understandable. I would get it. I would totally understand it.
Scott Benner 1:00:19
Have you heard this saying one bad apple ruins the whole bunch? Yes, yes, right, right. That's, this is what happens when people are, you know, blah, blah, blah.
"Gertie" 1:00:28
I maybe had to call in one g6 a year.
Scott Benner 1:00:31
Okay, yeah. I mean, I'm being 100% honest. Like, Arden does not have problem with g7 she didn't have problem with g6 like, she's one of those people. Like, tell me her secret. She sticks it on and pushes the button. Nothing else. She pays no attention to it. But I do. She uses the overlay that comes with the g7 that's it. I've never, like, you just talked about, like, all these different companies for like, I've never bought an overlay patch in my
"Gertie" 1:00:54
life, really, if I don't, they just fall off into these. You're
Scott Benner 1:00:57
disgustingly sweating. I'm
"Gertie" 1:00:59
a sweater. I'm a disgusting sweater. Yeah, exactly. My son can wear his g6 and no overlay, no skin tack, no nothing. And they will ask,
Scott Benner 1:01:07
yeah, he's not a horribly disgusting person like you are. He is not
"Gertie" 1:01:11
and, well, he showers like twice a day, though I would think that, you know, twice a day for 10 days. The 14 year old. No, my, my 19 year old. The 19 year old, okay, he's gonna say the 14 that kid is obsessed with personal hygiene. Nice. He has a whole freaking skincare routine. Oh,
Scott Benner 1:01:28
a lot of young people do that. My daughter's always up my ass. She's like, you're not taking care of your skin. That's why you have wrinkles. I was like, what am I trying to look good for? Exactly,
"Gertie" 1:01:37
right? Well, I've had cystic acne my entire life. So it's, like, excruciatingly painful. So like, my son gave me some pointers, and I haven't had a cystic pimple since, like, September. Oh, he knows what he's doing, yeah. And it can be overwhelming and frustrating because ADHD and anxiety, yeah, but I do it because the state acne is so painful. Sucks.
Scott Benner 1:02:07
Yeah, I'm sorry. I've Arden's had a ton of luck getting rid of her acne since she's been on a GLP medication. My insurance won't cover it. Yeah, it sucks. For the next couple years there's going to be dodgy insurance that won't cover stuff. Yeah, more studies will come. They'll, you know, probably get better coverage as time passes. I don't know this
"Gertie" 1:02:27
skincare routine works for me. He helped me tweak it for my skin needs. And yeah, no more acne. She
Scott Benner 1:02:32
tried so hard with all that for so long, and just nothing ever really, you know, bore fruit for her. Girl. Acne is so horrible, she definitely didn't like it. I have a question. It's a weird question to ask an hour into it as we're getting ready to stop. But why did you come on the podcast? You wanted something new? Well, this was new. You did it. Yeah, good for you. Looking back on it now and we're not going to change. So don't feel weird. But did you need to be anonymous? Maybe not. Okay, that's all.
"Gertie" 1:03:02
But I'm also a very private person, so I think I preferred anonymous regardless.
Speaker 3 1:03:07
Yeah, no, it's fine. It's absolutely fine. I have no trouble with it all. I was just asking the question. Okay, so here's where I ask you, is there anything we haven't talked about that we should have? Why do people panic in general? Well, like, if you have the lows. I don't understand the panic. Have you ever had a seizure? I
"Gertie" 1:03:26
have not, but my son has had, my older one has had three, right,
Scott Benner 1:03:31
panicky. Do you want it?
"Gertie" 1:03:33
Well, it bothered me, but I mean, panicking wasn't going to help the situation. In fact, it could have made it worse. So I just
Scott Benner 1:03:40
handled it, I would say, why would someone panic in a scary situation when staying calm is more valuable? Exactly? Would be like saying, why don't you not have bipolar disorder? They're not panicking on purpose, is my point. Well,
"Gertie" 1:03:57
like I said, I think that my trauma from my childhood is why I just don't react with panic. I don't panic over anything. Even when I tried to cut my finger off a couple of weeks ago, it was just like, Oh, look at that part. Really hurt.
Scott Benner 1:04:08
Two things, first of all, we'll get back to that. But the first thing is, yeah, that's a good point. Is that when your mom is mentally ill and addicted and your dad's addicted, and this is happening, and that's happening, a seizure probably doesn't even register in the top 10 worst things you've ever seen in your life. No, it doesn't right, but that's why they're panicking and you're not. They're living a fairly normal life where a seizure is a horrible thing, and you're living a life where a seizure is number 38 on the things that might happen to me today list.
"Gertie" 1:04:38
Okay, that makes sense. Okay. And
Scott Benner 1:04:40
what about your finger?
"Gertie" 1:04:44
My pork sausage was still partially frozen, so I was using a knife to, like, cut it up into smaller pieces and tried to cut my finger off. Oh,
Scott Benner 1:04:55
my God, when my wife uses a knife, we're all like, please be careful. Oh. Oh yeah.
"Gertie" 1:05:01
I think I have a little trauma from that, because I really don't use my knives right now.
Scott Benner 1:05:05
Did the sharp part hit your finger?
"Gertie" 1:05:07
Oh yeah, I got it all the way to bone. Oh, my
Scott Benner 1:05:10
God. Don't say stuff like that. Uh, that gave me the heebie jeebies. Jesus. Could
"Gertie" 1:05:16
I tell you there was blood all over my kitchen?
Scott Benner 1:05:18
Can I ask a serious question, What did you eat the sausage? Still,
"Gertie" 1:05:23
I did not.
Scott Benner 1:05:24
I don't eat spaghetti. Wait, wait, you were cutting it up. Oh, it was for someone else.
"Gertie" 1:05:29
I make spaghetti for my bonus son because it's like one of his favorite meals, and he had a friend over and requested spaghetti, so I was making spaghetti.
Scott Benner 1:05:37
Wait, had bonus son. Sounds like a kid who walked in off the street and you didn't make him leave. It
"Gertie" 1:05:41
is my partner's son. Gotcha. He lives,
Scott Benner 1:05:46
no, he lives with us. He does live you. Okay, yeah. Wait, I thought he had the stapler, but he didn't live with you.
"Gertie" 1:05:52
My partner does not live with me. My partner's son lives with
Scott Benner 1:05:56
us. You have a boyfriend whose kid lives two hours away. His kid lives with you, but you don't live with him. Yeah, who's paying for the kid? Grandma, his grandma, or your mom?
"Gertie" 1:06:11
I live with my boyfriend's mom, okay, my boyfriend's son, one of my sons, and myself.
Scott Benner 1:06:18
All right, listen, I don't care, and this is none of my business. But why doesn't he live with you?
"Gertie" 1:06:22
I live with you? Because we moved in here when covid hit, and his mom thought it would be best if he stayed with his grandfather during covid so that he could run the errands and stuff and prevent risk of his grandfather getting covid.
Scott Benner 1:06:36
So he's currently like, helping his grandfather,
"Gertie" 1:06:40
yeah, and as grandpa's gotten older, it's just been better for him to stay there and help with Grandpa, but
Scott Benner 1:06:46
he's six hours away. Yep. How often do you see him? Once or twice a year? Wait once or twice a year. You're not dating him. That's that's different. He's abandoned his child with you. That's all that's happened here. Well, his son
"Gertie" 1:07:00
was with his mom, but he came to visit for Christmas, and was like, I miss you guys. I'm moving back in. And I'm like, okay,
Unknown Speaker 1:07:07
he's like,
"Gertie" 1:07:08
I want to get my GED. And I'm like, Okay, let's do that.
Scott Benner 1:07:10
All right, listen, since you're anonymous, I'm gonna I'm gonna measure this entire situation with this next question. When you see him once or twice a year you have sex. Nope, you are not dating him. I just want you to know that. Okay, I
"Gertie" 1:07:23
want you to know that I agree with you. I just
Scott Benner 1:07:26
don't think he's figured it out yet. So, okay, what are we gonna call this episode? I don't know me either. Just call it. I don't know. I might call it frozen sausage. Oh, that's a good one.
Thank you. I appreciate that.
Unknown Speaker 1:07:45
I like that.
Scott Benner 1:07:46
I'm so worried I might bleep out my podcast ideas. Some of them are so fcking good.
Unknown Speaker 1:07:52
I love them. I was
"Gertie" 1:07:53
like, someone's gonna definitely take the first one of arguing with Scott. Oh,
Scott Benner 1:07:58
please. There's a cold wind episode coming out tomorrow where a doctor from Israel just argues with me for an hour and a half. So trust me, it's not the first one, but I had a great time arguing with her too. I love being arguing with people about anything. Doesn't even matter. I just love arguing. Yeah,
"Gertie" 1:08:14
I don't like arguing unless it's like today, that is acceptable arguing, because people, you know, we're not like throwing names at each other, we're having a conversation. So I wouldn't necessarily call it arguing.
Scott Benner 1:08:29
I have to tell you, I've decided that I'm going to start series within the podcast called, I heard I don't understand and arguing with Scott. I don't think rewriting history works inside of the juicebox Podcast. I'm just gonna make them I heard us. Yeah, I heard is good. This is a great idea. I have six months until your episode comes out, so I have six months to make this happen so somebody can't rip me off, and I don't, I'm not worried you'll tell somebody, because I think if you tell somebody, they'll just think you're making it up. So I'll be safe there. Well, the only
"Gertie" 1:08:59
person I would tell is my ex husband, and he would think that it's awesome, and he's like me. We're very private people.
Scott Benner 1:09:06
I gotta tell you something already, your shit is up, but I like you a lot. You didn't say one thing today that Carol Brady would have been like. That makes sense to me. Not one. I
"Gertie" 1:09:21
have never made sense to anyone. My I'm broken. Can
Scott Benner 1:09:25
I ask an inappropriate question before we go? Sure? Are you someone else right now or just not? Oh, so there's just no sex.
"Gertie" 1:09:32
No. I have no desire to be with anyone. Okay,
Scott Benner 1:09:37
so it's not necessarily the I can't believe we're calling them your partner when it really sounds like I see my mailman more than this, but like I do see my mailman. I actually shook my mailman's hand the other day. So I think he and I are dating. If you and this guy are dating, I don't know what any of that means. I don't have time if we started talking about this, I swear we'd be talking for three hours ago. I have to stop myself, but, but my point. Is, is that the sex thing's not about the guy. It's in general. It's
"Gertie" 1:10:03
just in general, I have no desire. Do
Scott Benner 1:10:06
you think he's with someone else? I don't, honestly
"Gertie" 1:10:09
think so. It's not in him, and, no, it's
Scott Benner 1:10:12
definitely not in you. God damn it. What a way to end this. All right, we're done. Don't worry about it, hold on a second.
Prolonged hyperglycemia can lead to serious health problems and long term complications. Learn more at Medtronic diabetes.com/hyper this episode of the podcast was sponsored by Medtronic diabetes. US med sponsored this episode of The juicebox podcast. Check them out at usmed.com/juicebox, or by calling 888-721-1514, get your free benefits. Check and get started today with us. Med, a huge thank you to one of today's sponsors, gvogue glucagon. Find out more about G vo hypopen at gvoke glucagon.com. Forward slash juice box. You spell that, G, V, O, k, e, g, l, U, C, A, G, o, n.com, forward slash juicebox. If you're living with type one diabetes, the after dark collection from the juicebox podcast is the only place to hear the stories that no one else talks about, from drugs to depression, self harm, trauma, addiction and so much more. Go to juicebox podcast.com, up in the menu and click on after dark there, you'll see a full list of all of the after dark episodes if you're ready to level up your diabetes care. The Diabetes Pro Tip series from the juicebox podcast focuses on simple strategies for living well with type one. The Pro Tip episodes contain easy to understand concepts that will increase your knowledge of how insulin works. And so much more, my daughter has had an A, 1c, between five, two and six, four, since 2014 with zero diet restrictions, and some of those years include her in college. This information works for children, adults and for the newly diagnosed and for those who have been struggling for years, go to juicebox podcast.com and click on diabetes pro tip in the menu, or head over to Episode 1000 of the juicebox podcast to get started today with the episode newly diagnosed, we're starting over and then continue right on to Episode 1025 that's the entire Pro Tip series, episode 1000 to 1025 Hey, thanks for listening all the way to the end. I really appreciate your loyalty and listenership. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of The juicebox podcast. I was looking for a way that we could all get nice and tanned and meet each other and spend some time talking about diabetes. How are we going to do that on a juice cruise. Juice cruise 2025 departs Galveston, Texas on Monday, June 23 2025 it's a five night trip through the Western Caribbean, visiting, of course, Galveston, Costa, Maya and cozmel. I'm going to be there. Erica is going to be there, and we're working on some other special guests now. Why do we need to be there? Because during the days at sea, we're going to be holding conferences, you can get involved in these talks around type one diabetes, and they're going to be Q and A's plenty of time for everyone to get to talk, ask their questions and get their questions answered. So if you're looking for a nice adult or family vacation, you want to meet your favorite podcast host, but you can't figure out where Jason Bateman lives, so you'll settle for me. If you want to talk about diabetes or you know what, maybe you want to meet some people living with type one, or just get a tan with a bunch of cool people. You can do that on juice cruise 2025, space is limited. Head now to juicebox podcast.com and click on that banner, you can find out all about the different cabins that are available to you. And register today. Links the show notes. Links at juicebox podcast.com I hope to see you on board. Hey, what's up everybody? If you've noticed that the podcast sounds better. And you're thinking like, how does that happen? What you're hearing is Rob at wrong way, recording doing his magic to these files. So if you want him to do his magic to you, wrong way. Recording.com, you got a podcast. You want somebody to edit it. You want rob you.
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