#1720 Valerie

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Diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes during pregnancy, Brooke discusses the shock, her baby’s NICU journey, and the overwhelming reality of managing a chronic illness while raising a newborn.

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DISCLAIMER: This text is the output of AI based transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors and should not be treated as an authoritative record. Nothing that you read here constitutes advice medical or otherwise. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making changes to a healthcare plan.

Scott Benner (0:00) Hello, friends. (0:01) Welcome to the Juice Box podcast. (0:03) Happy holidays to everyone juggling carbs, cookies, and the chaos of this season.

Brooke (0:22) My name is Brooke. (0:24) I am 29 years old, and I was recently diagnosed with type one, and that was during the pregnancy of my first child.

Scott Benner (0:33) If your loved one is newly diagnosed with type one diabetes and you're seeking a clear practical perspective, check out the bold beginnings series on the juice box podcast. (0:43) It's hosted by myself and Jenny Smith, an experienced diabetes educator with over thirty five years of personal insight into type one. (0:50) Our series cuts through the medical jargon and delivers straightforward answers to your most pressing questions. (0:56) You'll gain insight from real patients and caregivers and find practical advice to help you confidently navigate life with type one. (1:03) You can start your journey informed and empowered with the Juice Box Podcast.

Scott Benner (1:07) The bold beginnings series and all of the collections in the Juice Box Podcast are available in your audio app and at juiceboxpodcast.com in the menu. (1:18) While you're listening, please remember that nothing you hear on the Juice Box podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise. (1:26) Always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan or becoming bold with insulin. (1:37) The episode you're about to listen to is sponsored by Tandem Moby, the impressively small insulin pump. (1:43) Tandem Moby features Tandem's newest algorithm, Control IQ Plus technology.

Scott Benner (1:48) It's designed for greater discretion, more freedom, and improved time and range. (1:52) Learn more and get started today at tandemdiabetes.com/juicebox. (1:57) Today's episode is also sponsored by Eversense three sixty five, the only one year wear CGM. (2:05) That's one insertion and one CGM a year. (2:09) One CGM, one year.

Scott Benner (2:11) Not every ten or fourteen days. (2:13) Ever since cgm.com/juicebox. (2:17) The podcast is also sponsored today by US Med, usmed.com/juicebox, or call (888) 721-1514. (2:27) Get your supplies the same way we do from US Med.

Brooke (2:30) My name is Brooke. (2:32) I am 29 years old, and I was recently diagnosed with type one, and that was during the pregnancy of my first child.

Scott Benner (2:40) Your baby gave you diabetes, Brooke?

Brooke (2:42) Yes. (2:43) She did.

Scott Benner (2:45) Is it your first pregnancy? (2:47) Yep. (2:47) Wow. (2:48) How long have you been married with the person that made the baby with you?

Brooke (2:52) We were my husband. (2:54) We were

Scott Benner (2:55) That would have been another way to say it.

Brooke (2:56) Yes. (2:57) We got married last September 2024. (2:59) So we were only married about three, four months before we got pregnant.

Scott Benner (3:04) Okay. (3:04) In, your family line, any other ladies on your side of the family have gestational diabetes ever?

Brooke (3:10) No. (3:11) I don't think so.

Scott Benner (3:12) K. (3:13) Are there autoimmune issues, with your mom, your dad, your grandfather, your uncles?

Brooke (3:19) This is kinda distant, but my great grandmother had Crohn's disease. (3:23) So that that's the only thing.

Scott Benner (3:25) Well, now we can stop blaming the baby and start blaming her.

Brooke (3:28) Yeah. (3:29) Great grandma.

Scott Benner (3:29) Yeah. (3:30) Great great you probably don't even know her. (3:31) Right?

Brooke (3:32) I did. (3:33) Actually, she lived until she was in her nineties. (3:36) So she lived until I was 19.

Scott Benner (3:37) Woah. (3:38) I saw Yeah. (3:39) Oh, I no kidding. (3:40) I saw Dick Van Dyke telling a story the other day about his son, and his son is 78. (3:47) Woah.

Scott Benner (3:47) And he joked and he said, I am old enough to be Joe Biden's father. (3:51) And I was like, that's insane. (3:53) So he has two living sons in his in their seventies, and he's about to turn a 100.

Brooke (3:57) Oh, my gosh. (3:58) That's crazy.

Scott Benner (3:59) Isn't that really I mean, awesome, though. (4:00) Well, I mean, for him, not for us. (4:02) I'm not I'm not gonna live that long.

Brooke (4:04) Yeah.

Scott Benner (4:04) I know I'm not. (4:05) I know you people are gonna kill me with the stress you give me. (4:08) Sorry. (4:09) No. (4:09) It's not your fault, but it is.

Scott Benner (4:11) You get married, get pregnant pretty quickly. (4:14) I'm just gonna ask, did you do it on purpose?

Brooke (4:16) We did. (4:17) Yes. (4:17) Awesome.

Scott Benner (4:17) Good for you. (4:18) And then the baby starts to, percolate, and then what happens?

Brooke (4:23) So nothing really showed signs until my third trimester. (4:27) So, you know, in pregnancy, they do the glucose testing right around your third trimester. (4:33) And at that time, I got my a one c checked. (4:36) I was actually going to have a home birth, so I was doing things a little differently. (4:41) And my midwife decided to just check my a one c because we thought I was low risk, no reason to believe that I was not healthy.

Brooke (4:49) Got my a one c checked, and a week later, it came back 8.1. (4:54) And this was about, like, twenty nine weeks pregnant, so I was pretty far in. (4:58) And I would say the only symptoms that I had were the excessive peeing and really thirsty, but that's normal things in pregnancy, so I didn't think anything of it. (5:10) Checking my a one c, it was 8.1. (5:12) And she said, okay.

Brooke (5:14) So this basically means that you have uncontrolled diabetes. (5:18) You're high risk now, so you're gonna have to switch to a regular OB, and then things just went from there. (5:23) So it was very far along in the pregnancy that I found out.

Scott Benner (5:27) Going back over those first six months, hindsight, the peeing and the thirst, how long was it going on?

Brooke (5:35) Only, like, two weeks. (5:36) It was really, like, maybe around twenty six weeks of pregnancy. (5:40) So I really didn't have any symptoms. (5:43) The only other thing that might be kinda odd is I didn't gain a whole lot of weight. (5:48) I was pretty sick my first trimester, so had the whole morning sickness thing and was throwing up for, like, two months straight.

Brooke (5:56) And so I actually lost 10 pounds. (5:58) And then I gradually gained a little bit during the second trimester, and then it kinda just stopped. (6:05) So I know that a lot of times when people get diagnosed, they lose weight. (6:08) So kinda weird because I was growing a baby, but then I wasn't really gaining weight. (6:12) So that might have been another thing, but that was really it.

Scott Benner (6:15) So what what do you theorize here? (6:16) Do you think that, like, where most people would say, oh, you have gestational diabetes. (6:20) Do you think you were just became type one during the pregnancy?

Brooke (6:24) Yeah. (6:25) I don't even think it was gestational. (6:27) Yeah. (6:27) From what I'm trying to put together in my head because it's still very confusing for me, but I guess I was maybe genetically predisposed and then the pregnancy just triggered the autoimmune response that started type one. (6:40) So I think it's just been type one this whole time.

Scott Benner (6:43) A little baby isn't there like a little virus just Basically. (6:46) Yeah. (6:47) Trust me. (6:47) When do you try to raise it? (6:48) They are viruses.

Brooke (6:50) Oh, no.

Scott Benner (6:52) Wait till it yells at you one day. (6:54) Oh, my god. (6:55) What a moment.

Brooke (6:55) Yep. (6:56) You're

Scott Benner (6:56) you're like, I didn't have to do this. (6:58) You're welcome.

Brooke (6:59) I know. (7:00) Thanks, baby.

Scott Benner (7:02) At some point, I believe every child in the world says, I didn't ask to be born. (7:07) That's a Well that's a nice moment for you. (7:09) Yep. (7:10) I can give you the top 10 right now, Brooke, so you can gird your loins and get ready for it if you want.

Brooke (7:15) Oh, yeah. (7:15) I got a lot of preparing to do.

Scott Benner (7:17) I've been listening to somebody the other day talk about being a parent, and they were just advocating for it just, like, wonderfully, like, you know, about all the good it brings. (7:25) But they also highlighted how the people describe their saddest years of their life between 25 and 45. (7:33) And then somebody else said, well, that isn't that the time when you're raising children? (7:36) And he was like, well, yeah. (7:38) You know?

Scott Benner (7:38) And then the guy, like, kind of begrudgingly says there is a study that says that people who don't have children report being happier.

Brooke (7:44) Oh, no. (7:46) I mean, it's a huge transition. (7:48) Like, everything just think about back to the days when my husband and I could just leave the house and go to a brewery and not worry about anything and everything's different, but Yeah. (7:57) Everything's different for the better.

Scott Benner (7:59) Yeah. (7:59) Yeah. (7:59) You you keep telling yourself that. (8:01) Yeah. (8:02) It was it a doula, by the way, or a midwife?

Scott Benner (8:03) Or are they the same wife. (8:05) Are they not the same thing?

Brooke (8:06) No. (8:07) So a midwife is essentially the same thing as a OB. (8:10) A doula is just emotional support. (8:12) So the doula wouldn't actually deliver the baby. (8:15) They would just kinda be there to help support you, and then the midwife would actually deliver the baby.

Scott Benner (8:20) So you could have both?

Brooke (8:22) Yes.

Scott Benner (8:23) Yeah. (8:23) So you have the midwife and then, like, some hippie girl that talks to you while you're doing your thing.

Brooke (8:26) Exactly. (8:27) Yeah. (8:27) For which I ended up hiring a doula once I switched to the hospital, and she actually was very helpful. (8:33) And she held my hand when I pushed and all the stuff, so she was very helpful.

Scott Benner (8:38) Did she bring gems or stones to hold on your belly by any chance?

Brooke (8:41) She brought essential oils, which I thought were great.

Scott Benner (8:45) I like you, Brooke. (8:46) Yeah. (8:47) I'm a little hippie. (8:47) Yeah. (8:48) Yeah.

Scott Benner (8:48) I was gonna say I'm hearing it now. (8:50) The husband, he not qualified to hold your hand during the birth?

Brooke (8:54) Well, he held one hand and then she held the other. (8:57) And then well, not to get sad, but we had a NICU baby. (9:02) So he had to go with her to the NICU. (9:05) And then while I was being stitched up, my doula stayed with me. (9:08) So it's kinda nice to have two people there.

Scott Benner (9:10) Well, stitched up, did they give you an episiotomy or or a c section?

Brooke (9:14) I delivered vaginally, but a lot of the times you tear, which I guess I tore.

Speaker 3 (9:19) So

Scott Benner (9:19) I wish you wouldn't have said that word out loud. (9:21) But Yeah.

Brooke (9:22) Every woman goes through it, so they know what I'm talking about.

Scott Benner (9:25) Listen. (9:25) I know. (9:26) I was there when a couple of them happened.

Brooke (9:28) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (9:28) Yeah. (9:29) But not the point. (9:30) Point is, I just got that, like, horrible, like, thing up my spine. (9:33) I was like,

Brooke (9:34) I know. (9:35) I can't

Scott Benner (9:35) get it. (9:35) It didn't happen to me, and it couldn't happen to me, and I'm still freaked out by it.

Brooke (9:39) Yeah. (9:40) Yeah. (9:40) I can't believe it happened to me.

Scott Benner (9:42) Well, so the baby needed to go to the NICU because it was underweight, overweight? (9:46) Like, what was the issue?

Brooke (9:48) She was born at thirty three weeks. (9:50) If they're born before thirty four weeks, they require NICU stay. (9:55) And so she I guess, before thirty four weeks, their lungs aren't fully developed. (10:00) So she had to go to the NICU to get on breathing support and then feeding tube and all the stuff.

Scott Benner (10:06) Oh, that sounds scary.

Brooke (10:06) It was tough. (10:07) Yeah.

Scott Benner (10:08) Yeah. (10:08) Were you able to see her as much as you wanted or not particularly?

Brooke (10:12) I guess right away, not really because I was, you know, getting stitched up and I had to stay in the hospital for a few days. (10:20) But then after that, I could go see her as much as I wanted to. (10:22) So she stayed in for three weeks and I was pretty much there every day all day.

Scott Benner (10:27) Did your husband make that terrible joke about throwing in an extra stitch?

Brooke (10:30) No. (10:31) Thankfully.

Scott Benner (10:33) It's like an old seventies joke. (10:34) Oh. (10:35) I'm only aware of because I I'm old. (10:38) Can you imagine if that at all just happened? (10:40) They were whisking your baby away to the to the NICU.

Scott Benner (10:43) They're like, well, we're gonna have to do some stitches now. (10:45) And you just heard him going out the door and yelling, throw in an extra one. (10:48) You'd be like, unbelievable.

Brooke (10:50) I'd be so mad

Scott Benner (10:51) at him. (10:52) Oh, god. (10:52) The doula would throw her essential oils right at him.

Brooke (10:54) Oh, yes.

Scott Benner (10:55) Yes. (10:55) Inner crystals. (10:56) Inner crystals? (10:57) Do you have essential oils in the house now, like, with one of those vaporizer things?

Brooke (11:02) I don't want the vaporizer, but I've always kinda had essential oils, you

Scott Benner (11:06) know Okay.

Brooke (11:07) For different things.

Scott Benner (11:07) Alright. (11:08) I I there's a candle in my bathroom right now. (11:10) It smells awesome. (11:12) I said to my wife, I like, why does the bathroom smell so good? (11:14) She goes, there's a Christmas candle in there.

Scott Benner (11:16) And I was like, oh.

Brooke (11:17) Christmas candle. (11:18) Fantastic. (11:18) Is it cookie scented?

Scott Benner (11:20) I don't know. (11:21) All I know is these those are things I would not own if it wasn't for Kelly. (11:24) So it is nice. (11:25) Would I maybe if Kelly disappeared, do you think I'd go like, let me get a candle for the bathroom at Christmas? (11:30) Maybe I would.

Scott Benner (11:31) Who knows?

Brooke (11:31) Maybe you would. (11:32) Now that you know, it helps. (11:33) Yeah.

Scott Benner (11:33) It depends on how bored I am. (11:35) Talk to me about those months. (11:37) Right? (11:37) Like, you

Speaker 3 (11:38) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (11:38) You have this you know, you're thank God, like, somebody checks your blood sugar. (11:43) Right?

Brooke (11:43) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (11:43) And transition over to a hospital care. (11:46) And then I wanna I wanna hear about that step by step. (11:49) You get to the hospital, what changes, and what are those next couple months like before before the baby arrives?

Brooke (11:55) So I switched to a regular OB. (11:58) And if you're a high risk pregnancy, you have to work with maternal fetal medicine. (12:02) And they have a whole diabetes team. (12:05) So I switched to their care, and I start working with the diabetes educators. (12:11) And they were super helpful.

Brooke (12:13) They set me up with a CGM. (12:15) They explained insulin. (12:17) They checked my blood sugar while I was there. (12:19) I was I think it was, like, 300 that day. (12:22) So they were like, these are the things that you're gonna have to do to manage this for the rest of pregnancy.

Brooke (12:29) And I was very in denial. (12:31) I thought, like, there's no way this isn't just gestational or maybe it's just type two and it's gonna go away. (12:38) Like, I didn't know that type one was really a factor at this point.

Scott Benner (12:42) Okay.

Brooke (12:42) And I didn't really understand the difference between type one and type two. (12:45) I the only thing that I understood was that, well, I thought type one only happened in childhood, teenage years, and I didn't really realize that it could happen at any point. (12:56) And it also meant that you had to have insulin. (12:59) So I didn't really understand a lot of it. (13:01) So I was like, okay.

Brooke (13:03) Well, this I'm gonna, you know, help this with diet and lifestyle. (13:07) Like, I'm gonna get my blood sugars under control. (13:09) I'm not gonna have to go on in with insulin. (13:12) I think it was, like, two weeks went by before I actually started the insulin, and I got my blood sugars down to, like, the low one hundreds just by tuning in my diet. (13:22) So at that point, the only thing that I couldn't really fix was my fasting numbers.

Brooke (13:27) In pregnancy, they want it to be under 95 when you wake up, and I was like one ten, one twenty. (13:34) So I did have to go on insulin. (13:36) They set me up with a long lasting and a rapid, and that helped me manage it. (13:42) And at some point along the lines there, I don't remember exactly when, but they suggested getting the antibodies test to rule out type one. (13:51) Mhmm.

Brooke (13:52) I guess is there three different antibodies you could have?

Scott Benner (13:55) I mean, I think there's five, isn't there? (13:57) Okay. (13:57) Yeah.

Brooke (13:58) I'm not exactly sure, but I think I had three of the antibodies or maybe all. (14:02) So they were like, yeah. (14:03) This is probably type one. (14:05) They kinda explained to me, like, after pregnancy, you're gonna have to switch to an endocrinologist, and this is gonna be a lifelong thing for you. (14:12) So I still was kind of in denial that that was true.

Brooke (14:15) I was just like, there's no way this happened to me. (14:17) Like, it's gestational. (14:19) It's gonna go away. (14:19) Like, whatever.

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Brooke (16:54) Because I didn't understand type one, I think. (16:57) I just was like, there's no way that this just developed during pregnancy. (17:01) And even the doctors kinda seemed confused about the fact that you can get type one during pregnancy. (17:07) I don't know. (17:08) Have you ever heard of that?

Brooke (17:09) Because they've seemed like they've never had anyone develop type one during pregnancy.

Scott Benner (17:14) I mean, just because they haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't happen. (17:16) Yeah. (17:17) Also, five antibodies associated with type one diabetes, GAD 65, IA two, that's isolate antigen two antibodies, IAA insulin auto antibodies, ZNT eight zinc transporter eight antibodies, and ICA isolate cell cytoplasmic antibodies. (17:37) You one positive antibody can in, indicate an autoimmune activity. (17:42) Two or more consider strong evidence for type one diabetes or a very high risk if not diagnosed.

Scott Benner (17:47) Kids with multiple antibodies almost have a hundred percent lifetime risk of developing type one.

Brooke (17:53) Okay.

Scott Benner (17:54) So

Brooke (17:54) Yeah. (17:54) I'm pretty sure I had three. (17:56) So I guess I'm in the boat of type one.

Scott Benner (17:59) You also could have had them for, you know, for a long time.

Brooke (18:03) Yeah. (18:03) And that's what I still don't really understand. (18:05) If I had them for a long time, I don't understand why I didn't have symptoms until

Scott Benner (18:10) Because you didn't have diabetes yet. (18:12) You just had the the antibodies are just there. (18:14) So, like, you know, I mean, do you remember being sick before pregnancy, a virus or, you know, a a kind of a prolonged illness, anything that might have taxed your your immune system?

Brooke (18:26) The only thing that I dealt with was, kind of TMI, but I had abnormal pap test results. (18:33) So I had abnormal cells on my cervix that lasted about six to seven years. (18:39) And they said that typically what I had would clear itself within, like, a year or two, and my body would could not clear whatever this was. (18:49) And so there was an indicator that I had a weak immune system because I just couldn't clear it on my own. (18:56) So that would be the only thing.

Brooke (18:57) But aside from that, I felt extremely healthy prior to pregnancy. (19:01) So it was definitely a shock.

Scott Benner (19:04) Yeah. (19:04) So, I mean, I'm picking around a little bit here and asking our overlords. (19:09) Obviously, pregnancy doesn't create type one diabetes, but it changes the immune system, hormones, and some resistance in ways that can maybe unmask or accelerate their progression if you already have antibodies. (19:19) Mhmm. (19:19) Like, so you know, I mean, just something that shifts your immune system.

Scott Benner (19:24) The pregnancy could you know, definitely does that. (19:26) Yeah. (19:26) Right? (19:27) You get, a big hormonal insulin resistance, like, twenty to twenty eight weeks, like, right in there.

Speaker 3 (19:33) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (19:33) Who knows? (19:33) Like, you know, is it bothering you? (19:35) Is it a feeling like you'd like to have an answer?

Brooke (19:39) I think I'm coming to accept it. (19:41) In the moment, it was it definitely did bother me. (19:44) I just was I just was like, how did this happen to me? (19:46) I don't understand. (19:47) You explaining that helps even more.

Brooke (19:49) Think every day, I'm just kind of accepting it and learning more about it and understanding that this is my new reality.

Scott Benner (19:56) Okay. (19:56) And you are you having a reasonable time with that transition or or is it like, are you seeing a therapist or do you feel like you should? (20:03) Do you need somebody to hold your hand or rub oil on you or something?

Brooke (20:07) Essential oils definitely would help. (20:10) No. (20:10) I I think I'm doing okay. (20:11) I think it helps that I'm in the honeymoon phase because it's kind of like a slow transition. (20:17) Like, I'm it's slowly I need to take more insulin.

Brooke (20:20) And so I have a transition into it, and it's not just like one day all of a sudden, I have to take tons of insulin and my blood sugars are all over the place. (20:28) So I'm managing it pretty well.

Scott Benner (20:30) Good. (20:30) Good. (20:30) Did you I'm sorry. (20:31) You did have to take insulin during the pregnancy. (20:33) Right?

Brooke (20:34) Yes. (20:35) Yeah. (20:35) It was like since I gave birth at thirty three weeks, it was probably only for, like, two weeks that I actually did. (20:41) But yeah.

Scott Benner (20:41) And then do you see an endocrinologist separate for you during that time?

Brooke (20:46) Maternal fetal medicine handled me until I gave birth. (20:51) And then once I gave birth, they passed me off to endo. (20:53) So I had my first endocrinologist appointment, like, three weeks after she was born.

Scott Benner (20:59) The diagnosis isn't really about you while the baby's on board.

Brooke (21:03) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (21:03) It's more about the pregnancy. (21:05) Like, you are the pregnant. (21:06) Yeah. (21:06) Is that right? (21:07) Like, it's more like you are the pregnancy and then, you know, we're we're managing pregnancy.

Scott Benner (21:12) And now that the baby's Mhmm. (21:14) Been extracted, now we go and you get your type one diabetes diagnosis the way everybody else does and you go through the process.

Brooke (21:21) Yeah. (21:21) And I think that might also be why I was a little just, like, in denial because until I saw my endocrinologist, he was like, yes. (21:29) You have type one. (21:31) You're in the honeymoon phase, and he gave me all the facts. (21:34) Whereas before, it was kinda like everything just seems so up in the air.

Brooke (21:37) So once I had the endocrinologist appointment, I was like, okay. (21:39) Like, this is what's going on.

Scott Benner (21:41) Makes a lot of sense, actually. (21:42) But there's some great insight in there. (21:44) I appreciate you sharing it like that.

Speaker 3 (21:46) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (21:46) So okay. (21:47) Baby comes out. (21:48) You go to the endo. (21:49) Now you have type one. (21:50) What's it like being diagnosed with type one diabetes as you're also a newborn parent?

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Brooke (23:02) It's very overwhelming. (23:04) I guess I don't know any different. (23:06) Like, I don't know what it's like to have a baby or be pregnant without this going on. (23:12) So I don't know what it would be like if I didn't have type one. (23:15) So I think every mother goes through a period where they're very overwhelmed and there's a lot going on.

Brooke (23:20) But that's, I mean, the best I can describe it. (23:23) It's very overwhelming. (23:25) And, obviously, you have to always put the baby first. (23:28) And so, you know, her needs come before my needs. (23:32) And there's times where I don't always get to check what my blood sugar is and maybe not take insulin exactly when I wanted to.

Brooke (23:40) And I try to exercise after meals and stuff like that just to keep my blood sugar lower, and there's times I can't do that. (23:47) So I guess you just really have to prioritize the baby. (23:51) And so sometimes the diabetes stuff gets put on the back burner.

Scott Benner (23:54) How long ago was she born?

Brooke (23:56) She is almost three months.

Scott Benner (23:58) So Yeah. (23:59) So wow. (23:59) This is all very fresh.

Speaker 3 (24:01) Yes.

Scott Benner (24:01) How did you find me so quickly?

Brooke (24:03) So my husband, he loves to go on Reddit, and he was, just looking up people with type one and what they had to say on Reddit. (24:12) And a lot of people were talking about doctor Bernstein.

Speaker 3 (24:16) Mhmm.

Brooke (24:16) And he had a Facebook page called type one grit or something like that. (24:21) Yep. (24:22) And so I went and looked on that page, and I hadn't read the book at that point. (24:28) I still I think I only read, like, a chapter or so. (24:30) They want you to have fully read the book and be on his diet to join that page.

Brooke (24:35) So it suggested, like, other resources. (24:37) And I don't remember if they suggested your Facebook page or your podcast, but whichever one I found, and then I found the other. (24:44) And I love listening to podcasts, so I've been listening to your podcast, like, two episodes a day, something like that.

Speaker 3 (24:49) So

Scott Benner (24:50) Okay. (24:50) Well, so hold on. (24:51) That's crazy. (24:52) So you your husband found people talking about a very, like, low carb approach to type one diabetes. (24:58) And you tried to find a Facebook page for that approach, but they wouldn't let you in until you read the book and were on the diet?

Scott Benner (25:07) Yes. (25:08) But then who told you about me? (25:09) Like, were you in a different Facebook page and people were like, oh, you can go talk to Scott's people now. (25:14) Is that how it worked?

Brooke (25:15) I think in the like, you know when it sometimes asks you questions when you join a Facebook page? (25:21) I think in there, it had links to other either Facebook pages or podcasts and resources. (25:26) So I just clicked on one of those links and it took me to wherever.

Scott Benner (25:30) That surprises the hell out of me. (25:32) I and I I just and I just Brooke, if that's the case, I just have to tell you, like, I and I have no malice. (25:37) I don't think the low carb community is a fan of mine. (25:40) So that Yeah.

Speaker 3 (25:41) I mean

Scott Benner (25:41) freaks me out. (25:42) I don't know. (25:42) Anyway, what's up, brothers? (25:44) Like, I I think it's cool. (25:45) I think everybody should be sharing everything.

Scott Benner (25:47) Like, I genuinely if you want to, you know, follow the teachings of doctor Bernstein, I think that's completely reasonable. (25:53) And I also think it's completely reasonable if you wanna do a number of other things. (25:57) I like the idea of people having options, seeing what's out there and, you know, and making their own decisions. (26:03) So anyway, if that's the case, I I really appreciate it. (26:07) And we'd, I'll tell you, we have a a number of people who who eat very low carb in my group, and we're happy to let them share as well about how they do things.

Scott Benner (26:15) I only ever kinda step in if people start to proselytize. (26:19) If you come into my into my group and every question that's asked is answered with, like, well, you have to do this or go try this right away. (26:28) Like, I'm like, alright. (26:29) Like, you you're just on a you know, you're just trying to get people from here to wherever it is you think they should be. (26:34) Like, just you can tell them, hey.

Scott Benner (26:35) This works for me and, like, you know, give it a shot. (26:38) But if you start posting 12 times a day about it, like, I feel like maybe there's something going on. (26:43) Yeah. (26:43) Alright. (26:43) Doctor Bernstein, he lived to 90.

Scott Benner (26:46) Yeah. (26:46) He just passed this year. (26:48) Really

Brooke (26:48) Oh, I didn't know

Scott Benner (26:49) that. (26:49) Astounding. (26:49) Yeah. (26:50) He passed away in April. (26:52) But that it's just an astounding life, you know Mhmm.

Scott Benner (26:55) Doing that. (26:56) So okay. (26:56) Alright. (26:57) That's awesome. (26:58) And then you found the podcast.

Scott Benner (26:59) You liked listening to the podcast. (27:01) So what did you get out of it that I mean, because you're on the show pretty quickly.

Brooke (27:05) Yeah. (27:05) I think I reached out, like, I don't know, only a couple weeks after listening to your podcast. (27:10) I mean, I just love hearing other people's stories and relating to what they're going through. (27:16) And I think something that made me wanna reach out was when I was diagnosed, I was, like I said, very confused about the fact that it happened during pregnancy. (27:26) And I did find on Reddit that there's a lot of other people who've had the same experience out there, and I kinda wish that I saw more of that and I heard someone's, like, full story in a podcast or something like that of getting diagnosed during pregnancy.

Brooke (27:42) So kinda made me just wanna share my story. (27:44) I wasn't sure if you had ever had anyone on with a similar story, but I figured I'd like to share.

Speaker 3 (27:51) So

Scott Benner (27:51) Well, I appreciate that. (27:52) And I it doesn't matter if anybody's been on before talking about something similar. (27:56) I I think we need to keep having conversations so people can keep hearing them. (27:59) So Yeah. (28:00) Okay.

Scott Benner (28:01) So you made a point earlier that, like, you work a little bit in denial, then a lot in denial, then, you know, back again. (28:09) Is there something that you can point to that a doctor said to you that actually made you feel like, okay. (28:14) This is actually happening to me. (28:15) Like, I gotta wrap my head around it. (28:17) Was there something valuable that was said to you that helped you with that?

Brooke (28:21) I think my endocrinologist explaining honeymoon because I didn't understand that. (28:26) And leading up to that point, I was not taking a whole lot of insulin, and there was even a couple days in the hospital where I didn't have it. (28:34) Once I started learning more about type one, it's like, you need insulin. (28:38) So I was like, how did how do I have type one and not need insulin? (28:42) So when he started explaining the honeymoon phase and he got my c peptides checked, I think it was.

Brooke (28:48) Mhmm. (28:49) And that confirmed that I was in the honeymoon stage because I still had some insulin being produced by my own body. (28:56) So I think understanding that and how it was a transition into it made sense for what was going on with me.

Scott Benner (29:04) It just really does occur to me that being pregnant and giving birth and being told at the same time, right, like, have type one diabetes and here's all that comes with that. (29:19) You said overwhelming, but, like, you're really, like, underplaying it. (29:23) Right? (29:23) Like, I mean, it wasn't just overwhelming. (29:26) It was probably insane.

Brooke (29:28) Yeah. (29:28) Life changing.

Scott Benner (29:29) Right. (29:30) Right. (29:30) And your husband, this guy, I mean, he's not even qualified to hold your hand correctly. (29:34) So, I mean, how how helpful is he gonna be with this whole thing? (29:37) But, no, seriously, like, you're a new you're fairly newly wed still.

Scott Benner (29:40) Am I right?

Brooke (29:41) Yep.

Scott Benner (29:42) Yeah. (29:42) I mean, so you're newly wed. (29:43) You're newly you know, just went through a pregnancy that didn't go the way you expected. (29:47) You had, some big plans. (29:49) They got kinda, you know, smushed up there at the end.

Scott Benner (29:52) I wonder if you still have a full, like, feeling of the impact of what's happened to you.

Brooke (29:58) Yeah. (29:59) I mean, I don't think I do. (30:00) And my husband love him, but he, I think, is even in more denial than I am. (30:07) I think I've come to kind of accept, like, what's to come, and he's still very optimistic. (30:13) Like, maybe it'll go away.

Brooke (30:15) Like, I think he doesn't have as much education on it that I do at this point. (30:18) I mean, I'm still learning so much, still have so much to learn. (30:22) But

Scott Benner (30:22) Brooke, is it too late to switch to a different boy? (30:24) Like, what? (30:26) Wait. (30:26) What are you telling me? (30:27) You feel he has said to you maybe it'll go away?

Brooke (30:30) I mean, I think he's just very optimistic. (30:32) And I think even if it doesn't go away, he thinks I'll be able to manage it with very low insulin, diet, and stuff like that. (30:39) And I keep saying, no. (30:40) I'm gonna have start taking more insulin. (30:42) I'm gonna have to start taking it with meals and that kind of stuff.

Brooke (30:45) So I think he's just very optimistic.

Scott Benner (30:48) Well, listen. (30:48) I'm gonna take his optimism and and say, I'm happy he's optimistic. (30:53) I'm sad I'm sad that that this is the situation and that it it feels like this because you're making me pause at what might be going through a lot of different people's heads in this situation. (31:04) Like, oh, maybe it'll go away. (31:06) Maybe they'll cure it.

Scott Benner (31:07) I've, you know, I've seen people say, a god's gonna take it from, like, you know, like, I've got all different ideas of people clinging to the idea that I want this to change and go back. (31:17) And you're the one saying, no. (31:18) No. (31:18) This is this is how it's gonna be. (31:20) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (31:21) I think that's healthy, by the way, that you're that you're understanding of the situation.

Speaker 3 (31:26) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (31:26) I do think there are people who don't care for themselves as well because they that feeling of, like, hopefulness can turn into, oh, well, I'll just ignore it because this isn't gonna be my life.

Speaker 3 (31:38) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (31:39) And I I I just think you have a great shot at success when you you face it head on like this.

Speaker 3 (31:43) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (31:43) There are things that can help, you know, like as you as you go along, you'll be able to pay attention to I mean, there's a lot of people right now who, you know, experience insulin resistance, are using a little GLP medications that are bringing their insulin needs down that way, you could absolutely decide that eating, like, a a very low carb diet is for you. (32:03) Mhmm. (32:03) You know, that would keep your insulin needs down. (32:05) There's there's a lot of things you could do, but you're in the infancy of it. (32:09) No pun intended.

Scott Benner (32:10) Know, in the infancy of a lot of things. (32:13) Yep. (32:13) How is the baby, by the way?

Brooke (32:16) She's great. (32:17) You know, after she stayed three weeks in the NICU. (32:20) She had the breathing stuff, like the CPAP machine. (32:24) She had a feeding tube. (32:25) But once we got her home, she's been doing great.

Brooke (32:28) So no concerns with her. (32:29) I know that a lot of times when you have diabetes in the pregnancy, the concerns are that they would be a really big baby to start, which she was born early, so that didn't really happen. (32:41) And then they would have low blood sugar issues, but because she was in the NICU for three weeks, they were checking that constantly, and she didn't have any issues with that. (32:49) So she's great.

Scott Benner (32:51) What was her birth weight?

Brooke (32:53) It was five and a half pounds, basically.

Scott Benner (32:55) Wait. (32:55) There is part of me that really thinks that that's a a helpful indicator that you really just weren't diagnosed with type one while you were fighting. (33:01) Because if you if, you know, if you had gestational the entire time, I imagine her birth weight would have been higher.

Brooke (33:08) Yeah. (33:09) And then I also am not sure, like, since she was born at thirty three weeks, she was five and a half pounds. (33:15) That's big for thirty three weeks. (33:16) Had she gone all the way, I don't know if she would have been a big baby.

Scott Benner (33:21) Fair point. (33:22) I'm glad we've talked about it because I I I'd like to understand that. (33:25) Interesting. (33:26) Has your family extended been valuable for you here? (33:31) Your mother I don't know if your mom and dad are together or alive or whatever, but, like, do you have people that, that can help you and and you can lean on?

Brooke (33:39) Yeah. (33:39) They're all very supportive. (33:41) My mom so my mom's prediabetic, and my grandfather, who was her dad, he has since passed, but he had type two. (33:49) So there's some understanding of diabetes in my family. (33:53) They were so helpful at the end of pregnancy and the beginning of bringing the baby home of cooking us meals.

Brooke (34:00) And I just tell them, like, what I can eat and send them recipes and they cook for us. (34:05) So that was super helpful. (34:06) So, yeah, they've all been very supportive.

Scott Benner (34:09) Very nice. (34:09) Very nice. (34:10) You feel like you're set up well? (34:12) Yeah. (34:12) Yeah.

Scott Benner (34:13) Do you feel like you'll want an insulin pump when the time comes or do you think you're gonna try MDI?

Brooke (34:20) I'm definitely considering it. (34:22) I don't know. (34:23) I think there's positives and negatives. (34:25) I've seen, like, videos of people putting their ins or their pumps in, and I don't know. (34:31) They seem painful, and then sometimes they leak and whatever else.

Brooke (34:34) But then on the other side, giving yourself multiple injections a day is also a pain. (34:39) So I'm kind of considering both. (34:41) So we'll just kinda see what happens.

Scott Benner (34:42) You wait and see. (34:43) Are you wearing a CGM? (34:45) Yes. (34:45) Which one?

Brooke (34:47) I have the Libre.

Scott Benner (34:48) Libre three plus?

Brooke (34:49) Yes.

Scott Benner (34:50) Awesome. (34:50) Very nice. (34:51) What are you seeing on the CGM? (34:53) You know, because right now, you're just taking a basal insulin. (34:56) Is that right?

Brooke (34:58) As of this week, I started adding it back in a little bit of rapid, just a very small amount though.

Scott Benner (35:03) Okay. (35:03) What are you noticing? (35:05) Where does your blood sugar sit stable away from meals? (35:08) And what are you seeing as far as spikes could, go at mealtime?

Brooke (35:14) So I do feel like things have kind of gradually progressed over the last couple months. (35:19) Right when I after I gave birth and I got home and everything, I was pretty much sitting in the nineties, like, low one hundreds, and I was only taking seven units of Lantus before bed. (35:32) And then, interestingly, I saw those numbers start to creep up, especially at night. (35:37) I would get into, like, the one thirties, and it was too high for what I was comfortable with. (35:42) So I reached out to my endo, and I said, hey.

Brooke (35:45) I'm noticing my numbers are creeping up. (35:47) I'm starting to eat foods that I wouldn't spike on before, and I'm starting to spike on now. (35:51) So would you recommend adding back in rapid and upping my lances? (35:56) And he said, no. (35:57) He said, your numbers are fantastic.

Brooke (35:59) In his opinion, he wanted as long as my a one c's under seven. (36:04) For me personally, I would like it to be, like, under 5.5 ideally. (36:09) So I kind of ignored his advice and started adding more Lantus. (36:13) And so now I'm taking eleven units of Lantus before bed, like, two units with a meal if I feel like I need it. (36:20) And so I'm staying pretty stable.

Brooke (36:22) I usually don't go over, like, one forty, one fifty.

Scott Benner (36:24) Where'd you get the nerve to do that?

Brooke (36:27) Your podcast.

Scott Benner (36:28) Oh, sorry. (36:29) Hi, everybody. (36:30) I'm glad for you. (36:32) I think, you know, I I'm I'm gonna try to say this as much as I can. (36:36) I believe that people who have the most success with type one diabetes have good tools.

Scott Benner (36:40) They have a good understanding of how insulin works, and they feel empowered to make changes to their settings.

Brooke (36:47) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (36:47) I think that's a big deal. (36:49) Being able to say my needs have changed, and I don't need to stare at it for six months or ask, you know, a committee of people to decide whether or not I should go from, you know, point five to point seven. (37:00) Yeah. (37:00) Oh, that's awesome. (37:01) So you're you're continuing you're not having any lows that that are worrisome?

Brooke (37:06) No. (37:06) We're no lows really at all. (37:08) Occasionally, I'll, like, dip into the high sixties, but it'll come right back and I've haven't had any issues.

Scott Benner (37:15) Does a high 60 feel any certain way to you or no?

Brooke (37:18) Not really. (37:19) No.

Scott Benner (37:19) No. (37:19) You don't feel low No. (37:21) At that number. (37:22) Are you using a meter once in a while to check, make sure that Libre is giving you a good number?

Brooke (37:26) I was at the beginning and I stopped, so I probably should.

Scott Benner (37:29) Yeah. (37:29) Look every once in a while. (37:30) Doesn't hurt anything. (37:32) Especially in the extremes. (37:34) You know what I mean?

Scott Benner (37:34) Like, I'd love to know if a 69 is really 69. (37:37) And Yeah. (37:38) I'd love to know if a, you know, a one eighty is is not two forty, that kind of thing.

Speaker 3 (37:42) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (37:43) Yeah. (37:43) I guess what I'm I'm interested in, like, you're so new to this. (37:47) And like you said, it's not even, full on, oh, I got, like, type one and all the insulin and everything's happening right now. (37:54) And you have somebody on your side who you love and you care about who's telling you, like, maybe it'll go away. (37:59) And and, you know, and you're like, no.

Scott Benner (38:01) I don't think so. (38:02) Like and the baby's there and she are you breastfeeding?

Brooke (38:06) Yeah. (38:07) I'm breastfeeding, pumping.

Scott Benner (38:08) And you're breastfeeding, you're pumping and, like, you

Speaker 3 (38:10) work? (38:10) Do

Scott Benner (38:11) you have a job? (38:12) Like, you have to go to work?

Brooke (38:13) I have a very small part time job that I can work from home. (38:16) It's, like, a few hours a week.

Scott Benner (38:17) Okay. (38:18) Alright. (38:18) Well, you don't have to leave the house then, like, go on a schedule. (38:20) That's that's Yeah. (38:21) That's great at least.

Scott Benner (38:22) I'm just like, I'm wondering, like, I mean, it's not what you expected and it's not what you were getting ready for. (38:27) Right? (38:28) So so what is it? (38:30) Like like, when you when you step out of yourself right now and look at this entire situation, how would you explain it to another person as an onlooker? (38:38) Like, what's happening to you right now?

Speaker 3 (38:40) That's a hard question. (38:41) I don't know. (38:42) I it's hard to

Brooke (38:43) take yourself out of the situation. (38:45) But I guess when people ask what's going on, I just say, I got type one when I was pregnant and here we are. (38:53) I mean, I have I'm in the honeymoon phase and it's gradually ramping up. (38:57) Most people don't understand type one diabetes, so I'll explain to them that my pancreas is still producing some insulin, so I don't have to take as much right now. (39:06) But, yeah, we're just taking it day by day.

Scott Benner (39:08) I'll beat them. (39:09) You have such a good attitude.

Brooke (39:10) Thank you.

Scott Benner (39:11) Are you an only child? (39:12) Do you have brothers and sisters?

Brooke (39:14) I'm the middle child. (39:15) I've always been the, I would say, like, optimistic, go with the flow type of person.

Scott Benner (39:20) Well, you really are. (39:21) I mean, jeez, like, go with the flow is is, you know, an understatement here. (39:25) Like, you're not mad? (39:26) You're not scared? (39:28) Are you

Brooke (39:28) I mean, I definitely I definitely have had those emotions. (39:32) But I think when it comes down to it, when you have a baby, it's like, it's about them, and you have to do what you have to do to keep them healthy. (39:40) I've heard you talk a lot about Arden's story and how you just have to do it. (39:43) You don't have a choice. (39:45) And so I just have to put my baby first at this point.

Brooke (39:48) And, you know, obviously, I have to take care of myself too because if I'm not healthy, then she's doesn't have anyone to take care of her. (39:54) But, you you know, as a parent, you gotta do what you gotta do. (39:58) I think it just helps. (40:00) It for me, it helps hearing people's stories, and it helps getting educated. (40:04) And that's why I love listening to podcasts.

Brooke (40:06) Like, I've always been a podcast junkie, and whatever is go I'm going through at that time in my life, I just binge podcasts about. (40:14) And so I'm so glad that I found yours and there's so much content. (40:17) Like, I don't think I'll ever run out of podcasts to listen to, so I'm I'm thankful for that.

Scott Benner (40:22) So two things. (40:22) First of all, would you like to renounce your father and accept me as your father now? (40:27) No? (40:27) Yes? (40:28) It's okay if you don't want to.

Scott Benner (40:29) No. (40:29) You're like, no. (40:30) What the hell kind of I was just kidding. (40:32) You don't have to apologize.

Speaker 3 (40:33) Oh, I know. (40:34) I didn't.

Scott Benner (40:34) Also, I really appreciate you saying what you just said because I just had this conversation last night with somebody who said to me, like, oh, I was somewhere recently and a couple people said to me, like, oh, the you know, the podcast has too much content. (40:48) And I said, those aren't podcast listeners.

Brooke (40:52) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (40:52) And you're making my point here, which is really, really great for me because now I feel like I might have been right about something. (40:58) I think that the podcast attracts a couple of different people. (41:02) I think it attracts people who are been thrown into diabetes or struggling, and they've heard that it could be helpful to them. (41:09) And they come and they find it, and I think they extract from it what they need to go live a better life, you know, and or to get enough tools for building blocks for themselves. (41:19) I don't think you I don't imagine that most people, like, just listen to what I say and just go do it.

Scott Benner (41:23) Like, I think they apply it to their own lives and their own thinking and find a blend that works for them. (41:29) I think then when those people are done and their a one c's and their stability is where they kinda want it to be and their understanding and their comfortability is where they want it to be, I think they kinda go away. (41:38) Right? (41:38) Like, I think they found a thing and it helped them, and now they don't need it anymore. (41:43) And then I think there are other people who show up for all kinds of different reasons who are actually podcast listeners and want to listen to these conversations.

Scott Benner (41:52) And those people, they want something every day, and they want it to be an hour or an hour and a half long.

Speaker 3 (41:59) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (41:59) Like, they're not looking for fifteen minutes. (42:01) Give me something. (42:02) Let me get out of here. (42:03) There are people who like podcasts Mhmm. (42:06) And you're one of those people.

Brooke (42:07) Yeah. (42:08) I find myself if I have a podcast, I really like getting angry if there's an episode that's only fifteen minutes because, like, what can you say in fifteen minutes? (42:16) There's so much to say, and I just love I love the long podcast.

Scott Benner (42:20) Thank you. (42:21) I do too. (42:22) I prefer by the way, I don't even make podcasts at the length that I prefer them at. (42:26) I prefer them around two and a half hours. (42:28) But

Brooke (42:29) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (42:29) When I'm listening myself, there have been times where people have said things like, I this woman said something online the other day that really, like I was like, ugh. (42:37) Like, it hit me right in my soul. (42:39) She goes, yeah. (42:39) I tried the podcast. (42:40) Too much chitchat, she said.

Scott Benner (42:43) Oh. (42:43) And I was like, oh, that's that's the part I'm good at. (42:47) Yeah. (42:48) Oh, no. (42:49) Too much of the thing that I think I'm good at.

Scott Benner (42:51) I was like, oh, no. (42:52) No. (42:52) So but it's easy for a moment to be like, oh, she doesn't like me, but I don't think she doesn't like me. (42:57) She doesn't like podcasting. (42:59) Yeah.

Scott Benner (42:59) An easy thing to lose sight of. (43:01) So when I was explaining to the person about all this, they were like, you know, the person said they would like shorter episodes and more stuff about management and more stuff with doctors and more stuff with that. (43:10) I said, that's the stuff that doesn't do as well.

Brooke (43:13) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (43:14) Like, not by a lot. (43:15) Like, don't get me wrong. (43:16) But, like, if I do where there are a couple of things that happen. (43:20) If I do too much management stuff, the management stuff does worse by, like, 10%. (43:25) And even the stuff that people love, like, bolus four and, like Mhmm.

Scott Benner (43:29) Like, the pro tip stuff, like, that's listened to by a lot of people. (43:33) Like, don't get me wrong, but not as many people would wanna listen to you and I chitchat about your pregnancy and your life with diabetes. (43:39) Mhmm. (43:40) Those episodes do better. (43:42) And people want it every day.

Speaker 3 (43:44) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (43:45) They they're not looking for once a week. (43:47) They're not looking for, you know, every other, you know, Wednesday and Friday, like, kind of thing. (43:52) Like, people who want podcasts, they want them all the time. (43:55) And if they wake up on Monday or what again, what was yesterday? (43:59) Blind electrician.

Scott Benner (44:00) If you wake up tomorrow, you know, and you go blind electrician, I don't care. (44:04) Well, maybe you cared about the one from the day before or the five that were out the week before or the five that are coming in the next five days. (44:11) Like, there's always going to be content for you. (44:14) Like, I think in a world, that is built the way ours is now, if you're putting something out once a week or once a month, you barely have a hobby at that point.

Brooke (44:23) Yeah.

Scott Benner (44:24) You are not creating content. (44:25) That's for certain. (44:26) And for the people who love it, like you, it's exactly what they want.

Brooke (44:31) Yeah. (44:31) I don't know what it is. (44:32) It's like, for me, it's kind of comforting having like chitchat in the background. (44:36) I don't know. (44:36) Especially being mostly a stay at home mom, you're just by yourself all day with a little baby.

Brooke (44:41) So having just people talking in the background and

Scott Benner (44:45) Yeah.

Brooke (44:45) I don't know. (44:46) Hearing hearing similar stories, I I really love it.

Scott Benner (44:48) I I I will tell you that I just I grew up with talk radio and Mhmm. (44:54) I find it incredibly valuable. (44:56) I love having voices like, you know, I love hearing people stories who I've never met before and I'll never meet. (45:03) I like to hear people's perspectives. (45:05) I like that there's somebody leading the conversation who I'm comfortable with, you know, who I find to be reasonable.

Scott Benner (45:13) I don't have to always agree with that person. (45:15) I as a matter of fact, I've you know, I don't. (45:18) But and but still, like, there's a core about them that works for me. (45:23) Does that make sense? (45:24) Yeah.

Brooke (45:24) Yeah. (45:25) No. (45:25) I agree completely.

Scott Benner (45:27) Yeah. (45:27) So, like, I I'm I'm sure I say something. (45:29) I'm sure there are people who absolutely love this podcast. (45:30) So once in while, like, what did that moron just say? (45:33) And, like, because I do the same thing when I'm listening to stuff that I enjoy that has nothing to do with diabetes or me and, you know, like, I'll sit in there and, like, nodding along, like, you know, like, doing the dishes.

Scott Benner (45:44) You're like, yeah. (45:45) I agree with that. (45:45) That makes sense. (45:46) And they say something like, where'd you come up with that, you moron? (45:48) And, like, you know, like, it's it's I don't know.

Scott Benner (45:51) I just think it's a I think it's an awesome way to bring people together.

Brooke (45:54) Definitely. (45:55) I agree.

Scott Benner (45:56) Thank you. (45:56) Well, thank you very much. (45:58) And all of you other podcast listeners out there, I appreciate you. (46:00) And by the way, those of you who are just here for whatever, like, you need out of it, like, I don't begrudge it at all. (46:06) Like, I think I think it's awesome that we built something that also does something else.

Scott Benner (46:10) You know? (46:11) And so For sure. (46:12) Do you do it for that? (46:13) Like, I mean, have you even needed to really dive into pro tips yet, or you do you try bold beginnings? (46:18) Have you tried any of that management stuff?

Brooke (46:20) I've tried a little bit of each. (46:22) Think I can't remember exactly what episodes I listened to, but I definitely listened to some of the bold beginnings, some of the pro tips, and some of your bolus episodes. (46:30) So I've heard bits and pieces.

Scott Benner (46:32) So you're grabbing what you need and feeling like, to get yourself feeling like you're prepared. (46:38) Is that right?

Brooke (46:38) Yeah. (46:39) Like, for instance, I think it was maybe in the bold beginnings, there was like a episode about honeymoon. (46:44) So I've listened to that, and then an episode about insulin, and I listened to that. (46:48) And I kinda just listened to what I need. (46:51) I also kinda cherry pick the talking episodes to ones that I think will be more similar to my experience.

Scott Benner (46:58) Of course.

Brooke (46:58) And I just kinda start with those.

Scott Benner (46:59) That's obvious. (47:00) And you've been at it such a short amount of time. (47:02) Like, you're one of those people that if I don't piss you off, you could be listening to this show for ten years.

Brooke (47:07) Yeah. (47:07) I'm sure I will because there's been podcasts that I've listened to for probably ten years now.

Scott Benner (47:11) So Me too. (47:12) Yeah. (47:12) There's stuff I've I've listened to for so long that I don't even think it's the same thing I started with and I still just I'm just happy to be with the people at that point.

Brooke (47:20) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (47:20) Yeah. (47:20) No. (47:21) That's awesome. (47:22) It's not YouTube. (47:24) Right?

Scott Benner (47:24) Like, people are like, put your podcast on YouTube. (47:26) I'm like, nah. (47:27) It's not the same thing. (47:28) Like, I know you think it is, but it's not. (47:30) Like, that's not the same.

Scott Benner (47:32) Like, YouTube viewers are not podcast listeners.

Brooke (47:35) Yeah. (47:35) And I feel like it's more approachable for a podcast because I can put it I don't have to watch it. (47:40) I can put it on in the car. (47:41) I can put it on when I'm in the shower. (47:43) Like, whatever I'm doing, just have that background noise versus having to watch something.

Scott Benner (47:48) You know, it's funny too. (47:49) Somebody said to me the other day, I did an interview with somebody and they were like, can I get a screen grab of you and I talking? (47:55) And I was like, I don't do video. (47:57) I don't have any of that. (47:58) And they said, oh, I just wanted, you know, a picture of you and me for the like, some social media and I was doing it.

Scott Benner (48:05) I was like, yeah. (48:05) I'm like, I'm not the face of the podcast. (48:07) Like, people don't care what I look like.

Brooke (48:09) Yeah. (48:09) I don't even think I knew what you looked like.

Scott Benner (48:11) Yeah. (48:11) That's not important. (48:13) It it really isn't. (48:14) Mhmm. (48:14) I was listening to the Howard Stern show for six years when I realized that Robin was black.

Scott Benner (48:18) I had no idea. (48:20) Like like and that's not even like, probably, like, you you there might even be a thing you have context for. (48:24) But, like, I I was Yeah. (48:25) I was listening to a group of people talk for, like, six years. (48:27) And one day, I was like, what what did they just say?

Scott Benner (48:29) I was like, oh, I I didn't know that. (48:31) I loved how unimportant it was. (48:34) Yeah. (48:34) She's a voice with thoughts and she's consistent and like her, not like her, be angry with her sometimes, enjoy what she says sometimes. (48:43) She was just a a constant.

Scott Benner (48:45) Like, it's a I don't know. (48:47) I I I just think it's wonderful. (48:48) It's popular. (48:49) Like, that that's the other thing is that the last thing I said to the person was like, they're like, well, there's, you know, there's other podcasts and they do more stuff with doctors. (48:56) And I was like, yeah, boring.

Scott Benner (48:57) Nobody cares.

Brooke (48:58) Yeah. (48:59) There's a lot of podcasts out there. (49:00) There's a lot I mean, you can find whatever you're looking for pretty much. (49:03) So Yeah. (49:04) They're out there if you want them.

Scott Benner (49:05) That's it. (49:06) Here I am. (49:07) Through Reddit because your so your husband listens oh my god. (49:12) You've had such a crazy route to getting to where you are right now. (49:17) Really nice.

Scott Benner (49:19) Like, it's interesting. (49:20) I am worried about the boy though. (49:22) Like, is he do you think he's in denial?

Brooke (49:26) I think he's a little bit in denial, but I more so think he just he I I think it's the optimism. (49:32) Like, I think he thinks we're gonna manage this easy. (49:36) Like, we'll stay low carb. (49:39) You won't have to go on the pump. (49:40) Like, I think he just thinks we're gonna handle it very simplified, and I just I'm like, it's not gonna be that easy.

Brooke (49:47) There's gonna be ups and downs. (49:48) There's gonna be things that change throughout. (49:50) So I think he just is not ready for the ride that we're gonna be on.

Scott Benner (49:55) Unfair question because you haven't been married that long, so you might not have the answer. (49:59) But do you think he believes that, or do you think that he thinks this is him pumping you up or helping you stay positive or whatever?

Brooke (50:08) I think he believes it. (50:10) Oh. (50:10) Because I I'll I'll come back and say, nope. (50:13) There's gonna be a day that I have to take more insulin. (50:16) It's not gonna be so easy.

Brooke (50:17) And, I mean, I think I don't know. (50:20) He'll he'll see. (50:21) He'll figure it out.

Scott Benner (50:22) You're like, I'll show him. (50:23) Don't worry.

Brooke (50:24) Yeah. (50:24) He's gonna have to learn because, I mean, he he'll see my numbers and when it's like, okay. (50:28) I'm spiking. (50:29) All I ate was an egg, then, yeah, I have to take insulin.

Scott Benner (50:33) I just don't want and I'm not saying this is your situation. (50:37) Maybe it is exactly as you're as you're saying. (50:40) But there are people who really believe that stuff, who are running around, like, limiting their insulin and doing like, they're not being safe.

Speaker 3 (50:47) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (50:47) And I don't think you would do that. (50:49) I'm not saying that. (50:50) But I'm trying to figure out, where does that come from? (50:53) Like, from this, like, feel is he very religious?

Brooke (50:56) We recently got, into religion and started going to the church, so I don't really think it's that.

Scott Benner (51:02) Okay.

Brooke (51:02) To be honest, we're both a little skeptical about modern medicine, hence why we wanna do the home birth and everything. (51:09) So I think he just doesn't always believe things off the bat. (51:14) He has to see it for himself and go through it to understand because it there's so much misinformation out there.

Scott Benner (51:22) There is. (51:22) But but there's also a lot of good information. (51:24) So Yeah. (51:25) How how old is he?

Brooke (51:26) 31.

Scott Benner (51:27) Okay. (51:29) And do you guys grow up in a small town? (51:31) Yes. (51:32) Mhmm. (51:33) Okay.

Scott Benner (51:34) Anybody go to college?

Brooke (51:36) I went to college. (51:37) He did not.

Scott Benner (51:38) He did not. (51:38) What what'd you go for?

Brooke (51:40) I was a dance major.

Scott Benner (51:41) Oh, you can go to college for that?

Speaker 3 (51:44) You can. (51:44) And I did.

Scott Benner (51:45) Oh, I would have gone to college if I'd known that.

Brooke (51:47) Yeah. (51:47) It was great. (51:48) I loved it.

Scott Benner (51:49) I'm a terrible dancer. (51:50) But I I mean, this is where I could have thrived.

Brooke (51:53) Yeah. (51:53) Maybe. (51:53) I I think anyone can be a dance major.

Scott Benner (51:55) Really? (51:56) Like, you you don't think that when I dance, look ridiculous and there's no way to fix that?

Brooke (52:01) Well, it's funny. (52:03) I don't know. (52:04) The dance community gets very, very hippie as well sometimes, and it's like, anything can be art, anything can be dance.

Scott Benner (52:11) Alright. (52:12) Well, you're gonna be a dancer. (52:13) If you're gonna be that nice, then I agree. (52:15) But I don't I don't agree on on principle. (52:17) Go back to a second to there's a lot of misinformation.

Scott Benner (52:21) Type one diabetes has been around forever. (52:24) People who believe that you you see the ancient Egyptians talking about it, they call it the great drain. (52:30) They thought you urinated yourself to death. (52:32) Right?

Brooke (52:33) Okay.

Scott Benner (52:34) Insulin was, made in the in the twenties, saved people's lives, does every day. (52:41) Is there something about that that he thinks is wrong?

Brooke (52:46) No. (52:46) I I didn't mean that misinformation is specifically about diabetes, just like out there in the world. (52:51) Like, you go on Facebook and I just saw, like, an I this is crazy. (52:56) I just saw an AI video of RFK saying that there is some cactus blend that could cure diabetes. (53:05) And I thought it was weird, I googled it and it was yes.

Brooke (53:09) This was an AI video. (53:10) So there's so much crazy stuff out there that it's hard to believe things when you see them first.

Scott Benner (53:16) So people are just trying to get clicks.

Brooke (53:18) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (53:19) Right. (53:19) Right. (53:20) And so I think that's why it's important to find a community of people that you can believe in at some point and just kinda go off of that. (53:28) Yeah. (53:29) And you've done that already, so you you'll be okay.

Scott Benner (53:31) But he's not he hasn't done that yet.

Brooke (53:34) No. (53:34) Other than his Reddit searches, which you can find anything that you are looking for on Reddit. (53:40) So I do think that at some point, will suggest him starting to listen to your podcast or things like that just so he can see because he's never been around anyone who's had diabetes other than me. (53:51) So he has a lot of learning to do.

Scott Benner (53:52) Give him the bull beginning series. (53:54) Like, let him listen to that. (53:55) Yeah. (53:55) You know? (53:56) Because, like, look, I don't not get the duality of a person who makes content saying, like, oh, there's content out there and it's bull There's people listening right now who like, Scott, I've heard you'd be wrong about stuff.

Scott Benner (54:05) Is your content bull Like, you know what I mean? (54:06) Like that

Speaker 3 (54:07) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (54:07) I I get that vibe. (54:09) But, like, there's just some basic truths about type one diabetes. (54:12) Right? (54:12) You have type one diabetes. (54:14) You need man made insulin.

Brooke (54:15) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (54:15) You will die without it. (54:17) Maybe you'll need less while you're in a honeymoon phase. (54:20) And I'll tell you, there's an episode of a guy who, was type one for many years, using a lot of insulin, but then they put him on a weight loss medication, Mounjaro, or Zepbound. (54:31) I forget. (54:31) It's the same thing.

Scott Benner (54:32) And he actually came off his insulin. (54:35) And as of the time I interviewed him, he wasn't back on it yet, but he also fully expected that he would be at some point.

Brooke (54:42) Yeah.

Scott Benner (54:42) And right. (54:43) And, like so, like like, if I said to you right now, like, you could maybe stretch out your honeymoon with some GLP, I don't think that's maybe a crazy thing to say because you can you could maybe lighten the load and and and take a little bit of the burden off your beta cells right now and maybe make this time go a little longer for you.

Speaker 3 (55:00) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (55:01) And maybe not. (55:02) Like, I have no idea. (55:03) You might shoot that GLP and nothing happens to your insulin needs. (55:06) Yeah. (55:06) I have absolutely no idea, but GLPs don't cure type one diabetes.

Scott Benner (55:10) Yeah. (55:10) Yeah. (55:10) It doesn't make it go away or anything like that. (55:12) You still have it. (55:13) You still need insulin unless your body's making enough in a honeymoon situation that the GLP lifts the need and and allows for what's going on in your beta cells to be enough for you Mhmm.

Scott Benner (55:25) Which is what I think is happening to that guy. (55:27) And and I've had other people on who have, like, told that story too. (55:30) But having said that, not many people, a couple. (55:33) You you know, most people who take a GLP who have type one just experience less of insulin need. (55:40) But Yeah.

Scott Benner (55:40) May maybe by twenty percent or, you know, I've heard some people say by thirty percent. (55:44) I mean, that might be valuable for you to look into.

Brooke (55:46) I think maybe where some of his skepticism comes to is doctor Perdstein, from what we were hearing, people were taking very, very minimal insulin by, I guess, the low carb diet. (55:59) So I guess maybe his thinking is we're gonna find a way that you don't have to take a lot of insulin for the rest of your life.

Scott Benner (56:06) Well, that's very reasonable. (56:08) Like, it it certainly is if you don't tax your, you know a lot of people have success with that. (56:14) Now, by the way, a lot of people, I don't know what that means. (56:16) Mhmm. (56:16) Be it, you know, like, the percentage of people who are doing that, I I don't know what that number is.

Scott Benner (56:20) But also, is that a thing you want to do?

Brooke (56:23) I'd consider it, but I don't know if it would last the rest of my life. (56:27) Are you are you talking about the low carb or

Scott Benner (56:28) I'm I'm talking about what happens seven, eight months from now when that baby turns one and there's a cake. (56:34) Are you gonna want some of it?

Brooke (56:36) I don't know. (56:37) I I think we'll see. (56:38) I mean, I've been in a lot of situations lately where, I mean, the holidays are coming up and there's foods that would definitely spike my blood sugar if I ate them. (56:47) And I'm okay with passing it up, but I can't say that I'm gonna be able to do that forever. (56:52) I mean, I ate pretty healthy my whole life, so I think I can definitely eat pretty low carb, but I can't say there's not gonna be a day where I want a bowl of french fries or something.

Scott Benner (57:01) So It's a journey. (57:02) You'll figure it out along the way.

Speaker 3 (57:03) Yeah.

Scott Benner (57:03) But it but it is tough. (57:04) I mean, my point is is that it's tough to have an outside person tell you three months into something, hey. (57:10) You know what the the idea here is? (57:11) It's like, just eat a steak and don't touch any carbs ever again, and you won't have to do it's like, alright, man. (57:16) Well, maybe I'll just use some insulin and, like, you know, have a brownie.

Brooke (57:20) Yeah. (57:20) Exactly.

Scott Benner (57:21) I don't know what will be right for you. (57:23) You you know?

Brooke (57:24) Yeah. (57:24) I think there's a balance. (57:25) I think, you know, I'm I'll figure it out.

Scott Benner (57:28) Well, that's definitely true. (57:29) I mean, listen, the lower carb you eat, the better off, you know, you're gonna be as far as the amount of insulin you Yeah. (57:36) This podcast probably started with me saying, like, I figured out, like, that these things help my daughter's a one c says lower. (57:43) Right?

Speaker 3 (57:44) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (57:44) And as I started making the podcast, it occurred to me that I'm not in charge of how people eat.

Speaker 3 (57:51) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (57:52) There's an industry around telling people how to eat. (57:54) Right? (57:54) Like, there's somebody out there telling you to eat keto. (57:57) There's somebody out there telling you to high fat. (57:59) There's somebody telling you to eat vegetarian, vegan, blah blah blah.

Scott Benner (58:02) Like, there's people love to tell each other how to eat, and people love to get into teams and say, this is the best way to do

Speaker 3 (58:07) it. (58:08) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (58:09) I don't think that that is an open tent mentality.

Brooke (58:13) Yeah.

Scott Benner (58:14) I think that it allows you to get other people who are, you know, very hyper focused on this one thing and and get them all together and they can all tell each other, look how great this is. (58:23) But how does that help you, a new person who's diagnosed? (58:26) Right? (58:26) Or a person who's struggling or something like that who can't make a big leap and a big change. (58:30) And so my idea always was, this is how the insulin works.

Scott Benner (58:35) If you apply it this way, you should be able to keep your a one c here, your stability here, your variability here, and then go apply that to how you eat. (58:44) Now, the rest of it is, I do hope at some point people looking and realize that there are some foods that are just harder

Brooke (58:53) Yeah.

Scott Benner (58:53) And take more insulin and create more volatility and probably aren't very healthy. (58:58) And do I hope they stop eating them? (59:01) I mean, I don't care. (59:03) Like, it's not my life. (59:05) You you know what I mean?

Scott Benner (59:06) Like, I hope they're happy and I hope they're as healthy as they can be. (59:09) And if that means not eating something, because it's garbage or because it's, you know, mass produced or something like that, you know, yeah, I guess I hope they come to that conclusion. (59:20) But I also had a Swedish fish the other day and it was awesome. (59:22) I just wanna say. (59:24) Like, I had four of them.

Scott Benner (59:25) I remember them each and individually because I stretched them out before I ate them, and then I ate them in little bite. (59:33) I don't know if you know a Swedish fish, but they're

Brooke (59:35) Oh, yeah.

Scott Benner (59:36) I'm not here telling you not to eat candy or not to do anything. (59:39) Like, I just feel like it's ridiculous for me to

Brooke (59:42) come on. (59:42) Baby's coming up, by the way.

Scott Benner (59:43) Oh, we're gonna get the baby? (59:45) Yes. (59:46) Oh, so your mom's gotta go? (59:47) Well, she got a job?

Speaker 3 (59:48) Yeah. (59:49) Hi. (59:50) Here's the baby. (59:51) Okay. (59:52) Alright.

Brooke (59:54) Better and change Oh, wow. (59:56) Thank you.

Speaker 3 (59:57) So helpful. (59:58) Thank you. (1:00:00) That's okay. (1:00:03) Okay. (1:00:04) Thank you.

Speaker 3 (1:00:05) That's okay.

Scott Benner (1:00:06) Hi, baby. (1:00:08) Hi.

Brooke (1:00:10) That's fine.

Scott Benner (1:00:11) Put the baby near the ear pods so I can tell him, like, maybe don't list the daddy on everything. (1:00:15) I'm not sure yet. (1:00:16) Oh. (1:00:16) Okay.

Brooke (1:00:18) She's surprisingly quiet right now, but she might freak out. (1:00:21) So we'll see.

Scott Benner (1:00:22) Are you comfortable sharing her name or no?

Brooke (1:00:24) Yes. (1:00:25) Her name's Valerie.

Scott Benner (1:00:26) Valerie. (1:00:26) Oh, beautiful. (1:00:27) Oh, it's wonderful. (1:00:28) So nice. (1:00:29) Yep.

Scott Benner (1:00:30) Is your mom handling the fact that you have diabetes?

Brooke (1:00:32) I think she's she's accepting of it, but she's type two or sorry. (1:00:37) Prediabetic for type two, I guess, herself, so she kind of understands. (1:00:42) I'm more so the one pushing her to, like, be like, you gotta get this together because she's kind of been on and off prediabetic for a couple years now. (1:00:51) And now I'm like, look. (1:00:52) This has happened to me.

Brooke (1:00:53) Like, you could have to take insulin in the future. (1:00:56) Like, I really hope that you can, you know, manage your diet a little bit better so that you don't have to be in my situation. (1:01:02) Because I guess being type two, my understanding is you do have more control over it.

Scott Benner (1:01:07) Does your mom have any weight to lose?

Brooke (1:01:09) No. (1:01:10) That's the crazy thing. (1:01:10) She's very tiny. (1:01:12) So

Scott Benner (1:01:12) Okay. (1:01:13) But, yeah, teeny tiny little bit of that GLP might change her life.

Brooke (1:01:16) Yeah. (1:01:17) It could definitely be something I could suggest to her. (1:01:19) Yeah.

Scott Benner (1:01:20) I'd love to see more people pay attention. (1:01:22) I think the upsides can be really kind of phenomenal for people. (1:01:27) What is she doing? (1:01:28) Anything? (1:01:28) Is she on metformin?

Scott Benner (1:01:29) Is she

Brooke (1:01:31) No. (1:01:31) She just goes to see her doctor every couple of months and they keep checking her a one c and they're like, as long as it doesn't get any higher

Scott Benner (1:01:38) What is it?

Brooke (1:01:38) For now, we just want you to manage your diet.

Scott Benner (1:01:40) Do you know what it is?

Brooke (1:01:41) I think the highest it was was maybe, like, 5 80 around there. (1:01:48) So, like, nothing crazy.

Scott Benner (1:01:50) Mhmm. (1:01:50) Mhmm. (1:01:51) I don't know. (1:01:52) I I don't know. (1:01:53) Hopefully, she can manage it with diet.

Scott Benner (1:01:55) That'd be awesome. (1:01:56) You know?

Brooke (1:01:56) Yeah. (1:01:56) I've I've tried. (1:01:57) I think she just isn't very knowledgeable in nutrition and, like, I'll say, okay, like, can you do eat healthier? (1:02:04) And she's like, okay. (1:02:05) Well, all I have was cereal for dinner.

Brooke (1:02:07) I'm like, okay, mom. (1:02:08) That's exactly what you shouldn't do.

Scott Benner (1:02:10) When my mom became, like, prediabetic for for a hot minute, I was like, alright, mom. (1:02:15) Like, let's get you together some lower carb options. (1:02:17) Like, go ahead and, you know, show me some stuff. (1:02:19) And everything she pulled together had carbs in. (1:02:21) I was like, mom, there's carbs in all of this.

Scott Benner (1:02:23) Mhmm.

Brooke (1:02:23) I was

Scott Benner (1:02:23) like, let's add it up here. (1:02:24) Blah blah blah. (1:02:25) You know, it's this many. (1:02:25) She goes, oh, I didn't know that. (1:02:26) She's because she thinks of things as healthy.

Brooke (1:02:29) Yes.

Scott Benner (1:02:30) Yeah. (1:02:30) And I realized because she's older too, she had thought of things as stuff that she couldn't afford as being good. (1:02:38) Does that make sense? (1:02:38) Like, when she was younger, she couldn't afford it, that made it, like, something to reach for. (1:02:44) And because it was something to reach for, then it was a good thing.

Brooke (1:02:46) And Interesting.

Speaker 3 (1:02:47) Yeah. (1:02:48) Yeah.

Scott Benner (1:02:48) Like, there was, a whole, like, weird psychology around it, and she didn't understand the carbs and anything.

Brooke (1:02:53) Yeah.

Scott Benner (1:02:53) Yeah. (1:02:53) Your mom eats, like, literally cereal? (1:02:55) Like, what like, tell me the brand.

Brooke (1:02:58) I don't know what cereal, but I'll just ask her, what did you have for dinner last night? (1:03:02) And and she'll say, like, toast. (1:03:04) And then she'll always say, like, oh, I I'm not eating out, like, fast food as much, and she'll get Chick fil A the next day. (1:03:13) Or we'll be at a gathering, and I'll she always has a cupcake or a cookie in her hand. (1:03:17) Like, she just loves her sweets.

Brooke (1:03:19) So I'm always like, mom, this is the thing. (1:03:21) And I don't wanna be that person to, like, make her feel uncomfortable about what she's eating, but I do understand nutrition a little bit more, and I don't wanna see her get in the same position that I am in. (1:03:33) So

Scott Benner (1:03:34) How old is she?

Brooke (1:03:36) She's 55.

Scott Benner (1:03:37) Your mom's only 55?

Brooke (1:03:39) Yeah.

Scott Benner (1:03:39) Oh. (1:03:42) Oh, that's so interesting. (1:03:43) Your mom's 55 and she don't know that that Chick fil A is bad?

Brooke (1:03:48) She knows it's bad, but I don't think she realizes the extent. (1:03:52) Like, she'll say, oh, I don't have it that much, but then she'll get it that week. (1:03:56) And I'm like, okay. (1:03:57) But if you're getting it every week, like, you know, maybe try once a month.

Scott Benner (1:04:01) And cereals, that's an interesting one. (1:04:03) Cereals, like, you're you're like, you have prediabetes. (1:04:06) Eat better. (1:04:07) And she's like, I did. (1:04:08) I ate cereal.

Scott Benner (1:04:09) Yes. (1:04:10) Like, the worst thing in the world.

Brooke (1:04:12) And I think she she doesn't like to cook, and so she's like, whatever's the easiest thing to eat. (1:04:19) Like, I remember when I was in high school, my parents got divorced and we would be with her that week and we would literally have toast for dinner out of laziness. (1:04:30) So

Scott Benner (1:04:31) Is your mom doing crack or anything like that? (1:04:33) Is there something weird going on? (1:04:34) No? (1:04:35) She's not a meth head? (1:04:36) No.

Scott Benner (1:04:37) No? (1:04:37) Are you sure? (1:04:37) You're in Western Pennsylvania, aren't you?

Brooke (1:04:39) That's true.

Scott Benner (1:04:40) That's true. (1:04:40) I just gotta check. (1:04:42) Wow. (1:04:43) Toast for dinner. (1:04:43) I have to tell you what, as you do get older, there are days where you're just like, I had soup the other night.

Scott Benner (1:04:49) My kids are like, what are you gonna have for dinner? (1:04:50) I'm like, I already had soup. (1:04:52) They were like, what? (1:04:54) I'm like, soup. (1:04:55) I had some chicken soup.

Scott Benner (1:04:56) I'm good.

Brooke (1:04:57) Yeah. (1:04:57) And I mean, parenting, I'm learning, like, you don't always might have to hold a baby and figure out how I'm gonna cook chicken and broccoli for dinner, that's just not gonna happen tonight. (1:05:07) So I get it.

Scott Benner (1:05:08) I see what you're saying. (1:05:09) Okay. (1:05:09) Well, I I mean, I hope she figures it out. (1:05:11) There's a type two series in the podcast if you wanna give it to her.

Brooke (1:05:14) Okay. (1:05:15) Yeah. (1:05:15) Definitely. (1:05:16) I I'm always sending her podcasts to listen to, so Oh. (1:05:19) I will do that.

Scott Benner (1:05:19) Do you think she does she listen?

Brooke (1:05:21) I don't know. (1:05:23) And if she does, I don't know if she, like, really listens.

Scott Benner (1:05:27) Interesting. (1:05:28) I hear what you're saying.

Brooke (1:05:30) Yeah.

Scott Benner (1:05:32) Okay. (1:05:32) Alright. (1:05:33) Alright. (1:05:33) Alright. (1:05:33) Awesome.

Scott Benner (1:05:34) Alright. (1:05:34) I like you being here. (1:05:35) I really I appreciate you. (1:05:37) I appreciate all all all the things you shared today. (1:05:39) It's a really interesting look into a person who is very recently diagnosed.

Brooke (1:05:44) Yeah. (1:05:45) I'm glad I could share.

Scott Benner (1:05:46) Yeah. (1:05:46) No. (1:05:46) And under really, kind of extraordinary circumstances, honestly.

Brooke (1:05:50) Yes.

Scott Benner (1:05:51) For sure. (1:05:51) You I mean, you have a different I I used to say to my wife, I'm like, I don't think we're gonna hear too many different diagnosis stories anymore, but you here you are with one. (1:06:00) You know?

Brooke (1:06:01) Yeah. (1:06:01) And, I mean, that's like every doctor I had, they were just as shocked as I was. (1:06:06) So I figured it was not super common.

Scott Benner (1:06:09) Keep filling yourself oh, the baby did a thing and now I'm all melted inside. (1:06:14) Oh, that's lovely. (1:06:15) Gonna have did you say it's yawning? (1:06:18) That was awesome. (1:06:20) You're gonna have such a lovely time raising her.

Brooke (1:06:23) Yes. (1:06:24) I already love it so much.

Scott Benner (1:06:25) Congratulations. (1:06:26) Really, really lovely. (1:06:27) And keep filling yourself with knowledge. (1:06:29) Get it all different places and then make a good decision for yourself. (1:06:32) Okay?

Brooke (1:06:33) I will for sure.

Scott Benner (1:06:34) Awesome. (1:06:34) Hold on one second for me.

Speaker 3 (1:06:36) Okay.

Scott Benner (1:06:42) The podcast episode that you just enjoyed was sponsored by Eversense CGM. (1:06:47) They make the Eversense three sixty five. (1:06:50) That thing lasts a whole year. (1:06:51) One insertion. (1:06:53) Every year?

Scott Benner (1:06:54) Come on. (1:06:55) You probably feel like I'm messing with you, but I'm not. (1:06:57) Eversensecgm.com/juicebox. (1:07:03) Arden has been getting her diabetes supplies from US Med for three years. (1:07:07) You can as well.

Scott Benner (1:07:08) Usmed.com/juicebox or call (888) 721-1514. (1:07:16) My thanks to US Med for sponsoring this episode and for being longtime sponsors of the Juice Box Podcast. (1:07:22) There are links in the show notes and links at juiceboxpodcast.com to US Med and all of the sponsors. (1:07:29) Head now to tandemdiabetes.com/juicebox and check out today's sponsor, Tandem Diabetes Care. (1:07:36) I think you're gonna find exactly what you're looking for at that link, including a way to sign up and get started with the Tandem Mobi system.

Scott Benner (1:07:45) Thank you so much for listening. (1:07:47) I'll be back very soon with another episode of the juice box podcast. (1:07:50) If you're not already subscribed or following the podcast in your favorite audio app, like Spotify or Apple Podcasts, please do that now. (1:07:58) Seriously, just to hit follow or subscribe will really help the show. (1:08:02) If you go a little further in Apple Podcasts and set it up so that it downloads all new episodes, I'll be your best friend.

Scott Benner (1:08:08) And if you leave a five star review, oh, I'll probably send you a Christmas card. (1:08:13) Would you like a Christmas card? (1:08:22) If you're looking for community around type one diabetes, check out the Juice Box Podcast private Facebook group. (1:08:29) Juice Box Podcast, type one diabetes. (1:08:32) But everybody is welcome.

Scott Benner (1:08:33) Type one, type two, gestational, loved ones, it doesn't matter to me. (1:08:38) If you're impacted by diabetes and you're looking for support, comfort, or community, check out Juice Box podcast, type one diabetes on Facebook. (1:08:47) The episode you just heard was professionally edited by Wrong Way Recording. (1:08:52) Wrongwayrecording.com.

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#1719 Santa vs. Cookie

You can always listen to the Juicebox Podcast here but the cool kids use: Apple Podcasts/iOS - Spotify - Amazon Music - Google Play/Android - iHeart Radio -  Radio Public, Amazon Alexa or wherever they get audio.

A playful Christmas Eve poem where Santa uses diabetes tech, smart timing, and a little Juicebox wisdom to deliver presents, handle cookies, and stay perfectly in range all night long.

+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

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DISCLAIMER: This text is the output of AI based transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors and should not be treated as an authoritative record. Nothing that you read here constitutes advice medical or otherwise. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making changes to a healthcare plan.

’Twas the night before Christmas, the sleigh was all set, But Santa had data he couldn’t forget. He looked at his sensor, the arrow was straight, A perfect 100 — a number so great. He adjusted the pump underneath his red vest, Preparing for travel and feeling his best. “The night will be long,” he remarked with a grin, “With billions of cookies just waiting to win.” “I need to be bold,” Santa said to the deer, “I’ve listened to podcasts throughout the whole year. We don’t fear the insulin, don’t fear the food, We just get the timing to set up the mood.” He programmed a bolus before taking flight, To cover snickerdoodles planned for the night. “I’ll wait fifteen minutes,” he shouted out loud, To the elves and the helpers who stood in the crowd. He sprang to the sleigh, gave the reindeer a cue, “We’ve got a long flight and a job we must do. Now Dasher, now Dancer — stay focused and quick, No time for a low or for feeling quite sick.” He slid down the chimney, his pump in his pocket, And flew ’round the world like a red-suited rocket. The cookies were frosted, the milk was whole-fat, But Santa knew exactly how to handle all that. Once over the ocean, a beep filled the air, A diagonal drop gave the reindeer a scare. “Relax,” shouted Santa, “I see the slight drop. I’ll sip on this Juicebox and cause it to stop.” The drop leveled off with a graceful glide, The arrow stopped falling and turned to the side. He viewed the results with a satisfied glance, Leaving nothing to fear and nothing to chance. He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a thistle. As he shouted out loud, “That data looks right! Happy Christmas to all — may your numbers be tight.”

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#1718 Knowing All Your Tools - Part 2

You can always listen to the Juicebox Podcast here but the cool kids use: Apple Podcasts/iOS - Spotify - Amazon Music - Google Play/Android - iHeart Radio -  Radio Public, Amazon Alexa or wherever they get audio.

Sarah shares her LADA journey—misdiagnosed as type 2, overwhelmed postpartum, then empowered by a new endocrinologist and GLP-1 therapy—showing how persistence and better care can change diabetes management.

+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

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DISCLAIMER: This text is the output of AI based transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors and should not be treated as an authoritative record. Nothing that you read here constitutes advice medical or otherwise. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making changes to a healthcare plan.

Scott Benner (0:00) Hello, friends. (0:01) Welcome to the Juice Box podcast. (0:03) From my family to yours, I want to wish you a happy holiday.

Sarah (0:17) Hi there. (0:18) My name is Sarah, and I officially have latent autoimmune diabetes of adulthood or LADA.

Scott Benner (0:25) If this is your first time listening to the Juice Box podcast and you'd like to hear more, download Apple Podcasts or Spotify, really any audio app at all. (0:34) Look for the Juice Box podcast and follow or subscribe. (0:38) We put out new content every day that you'll enjoy. (0:42) Wanna learn more about your diabetes management? (0:44) Go to juiceboxpodcast.com up in the menu and look for bold beginnings, the diabetes pro tip series, and much more.

Scott Benner (0:51) This podcast is full of collections and series of information that will help you to live better with insulin. (0:58) If you're looking for community around type one diabetes, check out the Juice Box Podcast private Facebook group. (1:05) Juice Box Podcast, type one diabetes. (1:08) But everybody is welcome. (1:09) Type one, type two, gestational, loved ones, it doesn't matter to me.

Scott Benner (1:14) If you're impacted by diabetes and you're looking for support, comfort, or community, check out Juice Box podcast, type one diabetes on Facebook. (1:23) Nothing you hear on the Juice Box podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise. (1:28) Always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan. (1:33) US Med is sponsoring this episode of the JuiceBox podcast, and we've been getting our diabetes supplies from US Med for years. (1:41) You can as well.

Scott Benner (1:43) Usmed.com/juicebox or call (888) 721-1514. (1:50) Use the link or the number, get your free benefits check, and get started today with US Med. (1:56) The podcast is also sponsored today by the Omnipod five. (2:00) And at my link, omnipod.com/juicebox, you can get yourself a free what'd I just say? (2:07) A free Omnipod five starter kit.

Scott Benner (2:10) Free? (2:12) Get out of here. (2:12) Go click on that link. (2:13) Omnipod.com/juicebox. (2:16) Check it out.

Scott Benner (2:17) Terms and conditions apply. (2:18) Eligibility may vary. (2:20) Full terms and conditions can be found at omnipod.com/juicebox. (2:25) Links in the show notes. (2:26) Links at juiceboxpodcast.com.

Scott Benner (2:28) Today's episode is also sponsored by Skin Grip. (2:32) Your devices, they can fall off. (2:34) But with Skin Grip, they stay secure for the full life of the device. (2:38) Juice Box podcast listeners will save 20% on their first order at my link, skingrip.com/juicebox. (2:46) If you want a durable skin safe adhesive that lasts, you want Skin Grip.

Sarah (2:50) Hi there. (2:51) My name is Sarah, and I officially have latent autoimmune diabetes of adulthood or LADA for seven years. (2:59) And I have recently went through a really life changing, really informative endocrinology appointment, which felt like it gave me some power back with my disease process and really giving me options, which is what motivated me to reach out to you to be able to share because I anticipate there's other folks who are in the in a similar situation, and maybe maybe this could benefit them.

Scott Benner (3:25) I'm not a 100% sure what you're gonna say, but if it goes any way the way I expect, I think you're a 100% correct. (3:31) Awesome. (3:32) Hey. (3:32) What do you do for a living? (3:34) Most people you guys don't know this if you're listening, but most people, I'm like, go ahead and introduce yourself when you're ready.

Scott Benner (3:40) And it'll be like, hey. (3:42) I'm you just launched right into it. (3:44) Did you practice that in front of a mirror? (3:46) Or

Sarah (3:46) No. (3:48) But thank you for that.

Scott Benner (3:49) You don't have a job that requires you to speak to people?

Sarah (3:53) Well, I do. (3:53) Yeah. (3:54) No. (3:54) For sure I do.

Scott Benner (3:55) Okay. (3:55) You don't wanna tell me what it is?

Sarah (3:57) No. (3:57) I'm happy to tell you what it is. (3:58) I a nurse, and I spent the bulk of my career working in a peds ICU in the beginning, and now I switch to safety and quality. (4:08) And I work for a big hospital system and I am in a ton of meetings. (4:14) I connect with people a lot.

Sarah (4:15) I hope I come across as calm and informed and able to communicate, but we'll see. (4:21) I mean, this is just the first minute. (4:22) You never know how it will go.

Scott Benner (4:24) Well, I would love to be in a meeting with you.

Sarah (4:27) Well, thank you.

Scott Benner (4:28) Yeah. (4:28) You have a, a nice mix of able to communicate. (4:31) You seem assured of what you're saying, and you were, you know, timeline wise. (4:36) I like I like the the I don't know. (4:38) The order in which you you laid out what you said.

Scott Benner (4:40) So that was really great.

Sarah (4:41) Thank you.

Scott Benner (4:41) You listen to podcast?

Sarah (4:43) I do.

Speaker 3 (4:44) Do I seem calm when I'm speaking?

Sarah (4:46) Yeah.

Scott Benner (4:47) How do I seem? (4:48) Because I I think I seem scattered.

Sarah (4:51) I I think you seem scattered too, but that doesn't mean you're not calm. (4:55) Like, I think you're all over the place, but that's you still have a calm, confident presence.

Scott Benner (5:00) Okay. (5:01) It's interesting. (5:02) I I always wonder, could I speak linearly? (5:04) I don't know that I could. (5:06) Like, you know, start at a and end at z.

Scott Benner (5:08) I don't know if I could do that or not.

Sarah (5:10) What if your brain doesn't work that way, I just it just doesn't.

Scott Benner (5:15) It doesn't, but yours does.

Sarah (5:17) Well, I don't think so. (5:18) I mean, I could be scattered. (5:19) It's still early.

Scott Benner (5:20) Thirty minutes from now, you're just gonna be like, I went to the circus. (5:23) I'm like, wait, what? (5:25) You know, a little behind the scenes picture of this. (5:29) Yeah. (5:29) I believe that, you know, an hour is a long time to talk.

Scott Benner (5:33) Not for me. (5:34) Like, I'd go listen to a two or three hour podcast if I was interested. (5:37) I'd have no trouble with

Sarah (5:37) it.

Scott Benner (5:38) Mhmm. (5:38) But I think that for most people, it's easier if this conversation you and I have really ends up being eight or nine short conversations that are somehow tied together than telling, a tome. (5:52) And and I think it's more entertaining that way too.

Sarah (5:54) That feels that feels reassuring because I feel like there's certain buckets of my story that breaks down into several little stories, so that that's great. (6:03) And then I don't have to talk for an hour, but we can have this great dialogue about it.

Scott Benner (6:08) Perfect. (6:09) Let's start. (6:09) Seven years ago, you said? (6:11) Yep. (6:12) How old were you then?

Sarah (6:13) I was 37.

Scott Benner (6:14) Okay. (6:15) And now you are seven years later, but you don't have full blown here it comes type one diabetes?

Sarah (6:21) I think that I do. (6:23) I mean, this has been such an interesting ride. (6:26) I've, like, fully am insulin dependent. (6:29) I, have a lot of type one history in my family. (6:34) I have the anti the antibodies.

Sarah (6:39) Thank you. (6:39) Yep. (6:39) For type one. (6:41) And it just happened when I was later, but it had a slower progression. (6:47) So I I've been referred to as type one a lot of my seven years and then also recently just said, nope, you're LADA, and you can be treated as type one or type two.

Scott Benner (6:58) Okay. (6:58) How many other people in your family line have type one or other autoimmune issues?

Sarah (7:03) Yeah. (7:03) Have a sibling who has type one who was diagnosed at, like, nine, a great grandfather who died from type one diabetes at, like, age 29 before insulin was available. (7:14) I have my dad who was diagnosed in his fifties with type two initially and then one point five or LADA. (7:25) Mhmm. (7:25) And, there's some MS diagnoses in my family, Hashimoto's for me, Hashimoto's for my mom.

Sarah (7:33) So it's it's a smattering.

Scott Benner (7:37) It's unless there's 50 kids in that family, it seems like a lot.

Sarah (7:40) Yeah. (7:41) It's a lot.

Scott Benner (7:41) Was diagnosed your sister was diagnosed at nine. (7:44) So you've you grew up around type one. (7:47) I wanna understand if does hindsight let you think, oh, I could see it coming now even before your initial seven years ago? (7:56) Like or was there no way to know this was gonna happen to you until it happened?

Sarah (8:01) I appreciate that question. (8:03) So it was it was my brother just so I don't in case you I'm sorry. (8:07) Correct that. (8:07) No problem. (8:08) My mom was such a great advocate for us.

Sarah (8:11) So after my brother got diagnosed, she enrolled us in trial net. (8:15) So I was immediately tested for antibodies and I was GAD positive. (8:20) So that was at 11.

Scott Benner (8:22) Okay.

Sarah (8:23) So my mom knew, like, she told me kind of what that meant. (8:28) Like, there's a higher chance of you developing type one diabetes, and we just don't know what, when, or what. (8:36) What really triggered my diagnosis was having my third kid. (8:41) Like, it it felt like that was totally that event that pushed me over, that pushed my body into into this.

Scott Benner (8:48) Yeah. (8:49) Like your kid grabbed a ripcord on the way out or something.

Sarah (8:51) Totally. (8:51) Yes. (8:52) And that's totally his personality too. (8:54) Like, how can I just blow things up? (8:56) And yeah.

Scott Benner (8:57) What's this switch, Mark? (8:58) Don't touch. (8:59) Yes. (9:01) Boom. (9:02) Mom has diabetes.

Scott Benner (9:04) Okay.

Speaker 3 (9:05) So did your mom tell you when she did try on it?

Scott Benner (9:10) Like, did you grow up knowing that this might happen? (9:12) Yep. (9:13) Oh, you did?

Sarah (9:13) But I you know, as a an 11 year old, so just growing up, like, I was like, okay. (9:18) That that's something that could happen. (9:20) But, of course, you're like, that will never happen to me. (9:23) So even though I knew that, I didn't actually think it it would.

Scott Benner (9:27) Did it leave your mind as time passed on, or did you always have the same level of, like, background concern about it?

Sarah (9:33) I would say it left my mind. (9:38) I also am pretty health aware, and maybe hypochondriac is a better word for that. (9:45) Like, just always worried something is wrong. (9:48) And so I also have a tinge of that and I think probably helps me, you know, catch it early.

Scott Benner (9:57) Gotcha. (9:58) I wonder if it's because someone tells you you might get type one diabetes. (10:01) Totally. (10:02) We'll never know. (10:03) I'd love to rerun your life again, not tell you, and see if you're a hypochondriac.

Sarah (10:06) I know. (10:06) You never know.

Scott Benner (10:07) Yeah. (10:08) Taking away the fact that you had the trial net experience, is there anything about your life prior to your diagnosis that pointed to it? (10:19) Like, forget that you knew it was coming. (10:21) Were there it's it's kinda great because you're if you're hypercontract, you were really paying attention to what was happening to you. (10:25) Like, could you look back now and write out the road map?

Scott Benner (10:28) Oh, yeah. (10:28) When I was 14, I lost a bunch of weight and gained a bunch of weight. (10:32) And how about that? (10:33) Like, two years later, I got Hashimoto's or, like, is there anything like that that sits in your memory?

Sarah (10:38) I don't think so. (10:40) I was an adult when I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's. (10:43) I had gestational diabetes with all three of my kids. (10:46) Excuse me. (10:47) Insulin dependent.

Sarah (10:49) But I don't think there was anything that said, yes. (10:52) This is gonna be my future.

Scott Benner (10:54) Okay. (10:55) I appreciate you answering because I'm trying to figure out you know, I'm just trying to look backwards to see if there's signs or things that people could be paying attention to.

Sarah (11:03) For sure.

Scott Benner (11:04) Yeah. (11:04) Right. (11:05) Right. (11:06) Happened that led to you thinking like, uh-oh. (11:10) Here it comes.

Sarah (11:11) Yeah. (11:12) I so gestational diabetes with all three. (11:15) My first two kids, it was like, delivered, the placenta is out, my blood sugars returned to normal. (11:21) There was no issues. (11:23) My third kid, it was, like, a couple hours after delivery.

Sarah (11:27) They checked my glucose, and it was high. (11:30) Like, it was, like, one eighty or something, and I just immediately felt like this is not this is not good. (11:38) Like, I have delivered this kid. (11:40) The placenta is out. (11:41) These these glucose levels should be back to normal.

Sarah (11:44) And so that was my first something's going on. (11:49) About a year later, I had a checkup to just check an a one c post gestational diabetes, and it was elevated. (11:57) Question. (11:58) Yeah.

Scott Benner (11:59) First two pregnancies, baby comes out, you deliver the placenta, your blood sugar goes right back.

Sarah (12:03) Right? (12:03) Immediately. (12:04) Yes.

Scott Benner (12:04) Yeah. (12:04) Okay. (12:05) That's been my understanding talking to other people. (12:07) So then having had two experiences that way, a brother with type one, a dad with type one Mhmm. (12:14) A grandfather who wasn't lucky enough to be born before, I guess, 1921 or something like that.

Scott Benner (12:20) Why when you had the elevated after the third, didn't you raise your hand and go, hey. (12:25) I I don't wanna wait a year to find out about like, what happened in that that moment there?

Sarah (12:30) I think probably life and having three kids and just being overwhelmed was enough to distract me like, okay. (12:40) Crap. (12:41) But also by the time I discharged, my glucose level is back to normal. (12:45) So it it was like this tiny red flag that I was able to suppress.

Scott Benner (12:50) Got it. (12:50) Okay. (12:50) Thank you. (12:51) Okay. (12:51) Please keep going.

Sarah (12:52) Yeah. (12:52) So I had a elevated a one c like in the nines, and my endocrinologist said, hey. (13:01) I think this is type two. (13:03) Let's get you started on metformin. (13:05) And so started that.

Sarah (13:06) I got kicked out of trial net because I got started on metformin, really walking down that type two diabetes diagnosis. (13:13) Like, what does this mean? (13:15) Is metformin all there is? (13:17) And also still having three young kids, it was enough of a distraction for me not to really go down the rabbit hole of where I, you know, frequently go today.

Scott Benner (13:28) Did that doctor know about the type one in your family?

Sarah (13:32) Yes.

Scott Benner (13:33) Fascinating. (13:34) Okay. (13:34) Yeah. (13:34) Sorry. (13:35) So what is that rabbit hole of, hey.

Scott Benner (13:37) You have type two diabetes. (13:38) Here's metformin.

Sarah (13:40) I mean, I think it would be, wait a second. (13:43) I have all this type one in my family. (13:46) Let's do some digging. (13:47) What the actual heck? (13:48) You know?

Sarah (13:49) Like, it doesn't make sense for me to have type two, but I I just I don't think mentally I was I was there.

Scott Benner (13:55) Okay. (13:55) Because you had antibodies. (13:57) The doctor knew that?

Sarah (13:58) Oh, good question. (13:59) I don't know if they did. (14:00) I they may have not because, you know, when you enroll in trial, that that's kept in trial, that and it's not like it gets to your health record.

Scott Benner (14:10) Right. (14:11) But and you didn't mention it? (14:12) No. (14:13) And you would describe yourself at that point as overwhelmed?

Sarah (14:16) I would say yes. (14:17) Like, I had kids. (14:19) Like, anxiety really ramped up for me. (14:22) I had some postpartum depression. (14:24) So, like, my when my kids were young, it was it was rough for me.

Sarah (14:28) So I think that's just one more thing on top of a complex family life that I either just couldn't quite deal with or couldn't quite dig into.

Scott Benner (14:37) If I was a therapist, I would say I'd like to acknowledge that I appreciate that. (14:41) But instead, I'm gonna tell you that I I really appreciate you digging into that with me because what I think it does for other listeners I mean, like, look at Sarah. (14:51) Like, she knew she had type one diabetes. (14:53) Like, right? (14:53) Like, she knew she had autoantibody.

Scott Benner (14:55) She knew she had type one in the family. (14:56) She, like, she you should be listening to her speak, she bright lady. (15:00) You're in health care.

Sarah (15:01) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (15:01) Right? (15:02) Like and still the wash of life Mhmm. (15:06) Was a somebody said type two, and your feet came out of the sand, and you just went out to sea with it. (15:10) And just were like, okay. (15:11) I have type two.

Scott Benner (15:12) Just like that. (15:13) Yeah. (15:14) So I hope everybody hears that and realizes that when you're beating yourself up, when you have no context for this whatsoever and, you know, you or your kid end up in the hospital and you're like, oh, like, how do I not see this? (15:25) Like, it's really easy not to say it. (15:27) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (15:27) So yeah. (15:28) That's all. (15:29) I so thank you. (15:30) Unless you think the postpartum and stuff like that has impact on the story, I feel like you should just move forward. (15:35) But if you think it has impact, you can tell me about it.

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Sarah (18:05) Yeah. (18:06) I don't think it does have impact on the story. (18:07) It just provides context about where my mental state was when all this was happening.

Scott Benner (18:12) Okay. (18:13) Okay. (18:13) So please.

Sarah (18:14) Yeah. (18:15) About a year later, still on metformin, I suddenly started dropping, you know, 15 pounds, which I was super pumped about because I was like, man, I'm, like, eating all this crap, and I'm still losing weight. (18:27) This is amazing. (18:28) And not no red flags going off for me, just, like, really loving life. (18:33) And then I remember working and being like, dang.

Sarah (18:36) My fingers are, like, so tingly. (18:39) And this has been happening, like, every single day in the afternoon. (18:43) Like, what the heck is going on? (18:45) And it was those two things that I probably sat with for a month. (18:52) Like, I'm losing weight.

Sarah (18:54) My fingers are tingly and not quite ready to acknowledge it. (18:58) And then I just finally, one morning, I woke up and checked my blood sugar fasting, and I I knew it was gonna be terrible, and it was, like, three eighty.

Scott Benner (19:08) Oh, yeah. (19:10) And there you go. (19:11) You said, I don't have type two diabetes?

Sarah (19:12) Like, damn it. (19:13) Yes. (19:14) Here it is. (19:15) And that was that was it.

Scott Benner (19:16) I thought the tingling was just an alarm to remind me of how awesome and skinny I was.

Sarah (19:20) Totally. (19:21) I know.

Scott Benner (19:23) I've bought so many great clothes in the last month.

Sarah (19:26) I know. (19:27) And now, dang.

Scott Benner (19:29) No. (19:29) I hear it. (19:30) Okay. (19:30) So what do you do? (19:31) Do you go back to that doctor and you hit him with a rolled up newspaper, or how do you handle it?

Sarah (19:36) It was interesting. (19:37) So I called my endocrinologist and said, crap. (19:40) My fasting was three eighty. (19:42) What do I do? (19:43) And, like, it was so interesting because I don't think this would happen with, like, regular people who maybe aren't in health care who didn't have the gestational diabetes diagnosis, but literally it was over the phone.

Sarah (19:58) Like, you're starting Humalog. (19:59) You're starting, long acting. (20:02) Go pick it up. (20:03) This is starting today. (20:05) Start checking your blood sugars, we'll get you in an appointment when we can, and it's not for like four weeks.

Sarah (20:11) And so I just don't think of any scenario where someone with this new diagnosis is managing that on their own without actually going in. (20:20) Does that make sense?

Scott Benner (20:21) Yeah. (20:22) Oh, it feels positive and negative to me. (20:24) It feels positive that the doctor was like, didn't fight you and say, no. (20:28) We'll give you more metformin. (20:29) What have you been eating?

Scott Benner (20:30) Like, that kind of thing. (20:31) But you didn't get that. (20:32) You got you got, oh, gosh, you know, capitulation. (20:35) Same doctor that gave you the type two diagnosis? (20:37) Yes.

Scott Benner (20:38) Okay. (20:39) And but on the other side of it, is it because you're in medicine? (20:41) Do you think that they were like, oh, she'll know what to do. (20:44) Here. (20:44) Take your insulin?

Sarah (20:44) Yes. (20:45) I totally think so because they knew I was a nurse. (20:47) They knew my mom was a diabetes educator. (20:50) Like, we of course, I had the resources, and so I'm not faulting them for that. (20:55) It really just was like, I can't believe that happened like that.

Scott Benner (20:58) No direction, education, anything at all. (21:00) Just we'll send some scripts over and you you rock and roll, you get going.

Sarah (21:04) Get started. (21:04) Yep.

Scott Benner (21:05) How did you figure out I mean, you go to your brother, or how do you figure out how to get your even, like, choose a the amount for basil, for example?

Sarah (21:12) Yeah. (21:12) I think I leaned in on my mom. (21:15) Just her she had the knowledge. (21:18) It was, okay. (21:19) Try to do this many, units of insulin for this many grams of carbs, and then it was just off and running.

Sarah (21:26) It was trial and error.

Scott Benner (21:27) Well, your mom worked for, like, Medtronic or something like that?

Sarah (21:30) She worked for Medtronic, she also worked for Tandem.

Scott Benner (21:33) So you go to your mom, who raised a kid with type one Yep. (21:37) Has has the background, you know, professionally to some level or another. (21:40) Yep. (21:40) And you go MDI?

Sarah (21:42) I go MDI.

Scott Benner (21:44) Okay. (21:45) And you're how much did you need in the beginning?

Sarah (21:48) Oh gosh. (21:49) Like, you will be really testing my memory. (21:51) I remember it was, like, keep under 20 units a day. (21:55) That was the first the first prescription.

Scott Benner (21:58) I was gonna guess, like, a lot less than now Yes. (22:00) Or not really?

Sarah (22:01) Yes. (22:02) Yeah. (22:02) Now it's a little bit different. (22:03) But, yes, like, at the peak, a lot less than where I started or than where I got to.

Scott Benner (22:09) Excellent. (22:10) So okay. (22:10) So you go to your mom, but then you're not I mean, where are you, postpartum? (22:17) How long how old is your youngest at that point?

Sarah (22:19) At least a year. (22:20) Not quite two.

Scott Benner (22:22) Would you still consider yourself in that malaise, that haze there?

Sarah (22:25) No. (22:25) I think I was out of that. (22:27) Yep.

Scott Benner (22:28) Okay. (22:28) So you're a little more clear minded at that point. (22:31) So explain to me your mindset about the diagnosis being thrown into it. (22:36) Like, I'm really interested in those first four weeks before you get to the doctor.

Sarah (22:39) Mhmm. (22:39) It was a ton of denial, and that actually lasted a really long time. (22:44) Like, this is something I'm doing today. (22:47) This is something I'm doing during this hour, but it's not my the rest of my life. (22:53) I I just, like, could not could not get there because of how almost, like, devastating it feels to, you know, to get that that sinking and feeling to be like, oh my gosh.

Sarah (23:07) This is the rest of my life, and I just could not. (23:09) And so I handled it almost like I handled work sometimes. (23:15) Like, there's a critical situation, you know what to do, you have the training to do it, just do it and get it done and make sure your glucose levels are in normal range.

Scott Benner (23:27) Okay. (23:27) And I'm sorry to ask, but you you didn't go to your brother. (23:31) You're not close or you are close, but you didn't occur to you to go to him?

Sarah (23:34) Oh, for sure. (23:35) Like, I my brother knew, my dad knew, my mom knew. (23:39) I mean, my whole family knew. (23:40) We talked about it, like, processed it, and it sucked. (23:44) But his journey was so much different, like, been diagnosed at nine or at seven or whatever it was.

Sarah (23:52) And then this kind of slower onset, it just was different. (23:57) The nice thing was is it opened up this channel of communication between all three of us, my dad, my brother, me. (24:02) Like, we're in this little tribe together.

Scott Benner (24:05) Yeah.

Sarah (24:05) And then this is a little bit of a tangent, but I quickly advocated to get on a pump. (24:10) I quickly advocated to get on dexcom, and at that point, neither my dad or my brother were on a continuous glucose monitor. (24:17) So literally within thirty days of this diagnosis, I was on one and, you know, they've been on this for years.

Scott Benner (24:24) Yeah. (24:24) I was going to ask, I guess, was your dad's, like the entirety of his advice, like, don't eat that toast. (24:30) I don't know. (24:30) I give myself the thing, and I try not to eat bread. (24:33) Is that, like, you know, is that how he's managing?

Scott Benner (24:35) It was how he was managing Okay. (24:38) Did your brother follow suit with that management style more so? (24:42) I I know it's hard to, like, call because it feels like you're calling him out now because now you know how to live with diabetes. (24:47) You know what it really means to say this out loud. (24:49) But do you think he was doing as well as he could have been?

Sarah (24:52) No. (24:52) I would say no. (24:53) And I I could say that to his face for sure. (24:56) And I also think he was doing what he could with what he what what was going on in his life. (25:04) And not like not like he had a ton of stuff going on, but it's it's a lot.

Sarah (25:07) And he was and he's had it since he was young. (25:10) And it just He's

Scott Benner (25:12) older than you?

Sarah (25:12) He's younger than me.

Scott Benner (25:14) Younger than you. (25:14) So how so he grew up with it through the eighties?

Sarah (25:20) Through the eighties. (25:21) Yep. (25:21) Because he was born in, like, '82.

Scott Benner (25:25) Okay. (25:25) So he probably got Lantus and Humalog at the very beginning of Lantus and Humalog. (25:29) Yep. (25:30) Yeah. (25:30) Okay.

Scott Benner (25:33) But and so I know what the tools were like back then as far as how they were, communicated to people, and it really was about, like, testing periodically, and Mhmm. (25:42) It's not I don't think it nearly is what it was. (25:44) So your mom's understanding of management is back there as well. (25:48) Oh, speaking of your mom and your dad, you sound like you guys have a pretty close relationship. (25:53) So this question is really just for me.

Scott Benner (25:56) Were they devastated when you were diagnosed even though you were 37?

Sarah (26:00) No. (26:01) I would Yeah. (26:01) Say I and maybe that's just also their, like, Scandinavian roots. (26:08) Like, it is what it is. (26:09) Like, you move forward.

Sarah (26:11) And it also is like this probably was writing on the wall.

Scott Benner (26:15) Yeah. (26:15) That you think they've been waiting for it forever. (26:17) Maybe it was a relief.

Sarah (26:18) I think they, yeah, knew that it was probably coming, especially my mom knowing what the antibodies meant and knowing that I was GAD positive at 11.

Scott Benner (26:28) You know, as soon as I don't know. (26:30) As soon as Arden was diagnosed, a couple years later, we sent Cole to trial that he did not have any autoantibodies. (26:35) K. (26:36) But he but he did develop Hashimoto's a handful years ago.

Sarah (26:39) Okay.

Scott Benner (26:40) And I will admit that it took some effort not to look at him and think, oh, god. (26:45) Is he gonna get diabetes? (26:46) Every time I looked at him. (26:47) Yeah. (26:48) And I still can't tell if it feels more possible because of my job.

Scott Benner (26:55) And I hear everyone's stories and no one comes on to tell the story of how they were this, you know, the I don't know, the brother or daughter or sister of a type one and nothing ever happened to them. (27:05) Like, nobody comes on to tell that story. (27:06) So every story I hear sounds like that Or so I don't know if I I feel that way because I hear the stories or because if it's a real anxiety, you know, and a genuine, like, back back brain concern. (27:19) Mhmm. (27:19) But somehow knowing that your parents because I know some people think of parenting differently than I do.

Scott Benner (27:26) Right? (27:26) I'm I'm sure we all think of it in a ton of different ways, but I I feel like it's a lifelong endeavor. (27:32) I just I don't know if I could handle fifteen years from now, like, like, being 70 year will I be 70 in fifteen? (27:40) Hold on a second. (27:40) Jesus Christ, I will be.

Scott Benner (27:42) Okay. (27:42) So I don't know if I oh, it was terrible. (27:45) Now I'm upset. (27:46) I I don't know if fifteen years from now, I'm 70 years old and my, you know, I don't know, 40 year old son calls me up and says, hey. (27:56) I have type one.

Scott Benner (27:57) I I don't know if I could handle it. (27:59) Like and I'm and your actually, your parents' reaction is making me feel a little more like maybe I can.

Sarah (28:04) Yeah. (28:04) And almost like a relief. (28:05) Like, oh my gosh. (28:06) We made it to 40, and I'm, of course, not projecting that that's gonna happen.

Scott Benner (28:10) Yeah.

Sarah (28:11) I have that same feeling for my three kiddos, like, just waiting for that diagnosis, which is terrible. (28:17) And they all did trial meds and they don't have the autoantibodies, and I will always be waiting for that for the rest of their life. (28:25) So, yes, I hear you.

Scott Benner (28:26) Yeah. (28:27) Any autoimmune on your husband's side? (28:29) I don't know if you're married still, but

Sarah (28:30) I am still married and no, there's no autoimmune on his side.

Scott Benner (28:34) Okay. (28:35) Just is he just annoyingly healthy?

Sarah (28:37) Yes. (28:37) Which is awesome for him. (28:39) Yep.

Scott Benner (28:40) Awesome for him.

Sarah (28:41) Yeah.

Scott Benner (28:44) You said you have Hashimoto's as well?

Sarah (28:45) I do. (28:45) Yep.

Scott Benner (28:46) Alright. (28:47) So before we get into you jumping onto a pump really quickly, how old were you when you were diagnosed with that?

Sarah (28:51) I was probably about 25.

Scott Benner (28:54) Oh, okay. (28:55) Managed with Synthroid?

Sarah (28:56) Yep.

Scott Benner (28:57) Do you have any symptoms even when you were medicated?

Sarah (29:01) No. (29:02) Not really.

Scott Benner (29:03) Okay. (29:03) You've been good with that. (29:04) You haven't needed a t three to help or anything like that? (29:06) Nope. (29:07) Nope.

Scott Benner (29:07) Awesome. (29:07) Oh, that's great. (29:09) Any of your kids have Hashimoto's? (29:10) No. (29:11) No.

Scott Benner (29:12) How old are they?

Sarah (29:14) They are 14, 12, and eight.

Scott Benner (29:17) Oh, wow. (29:17) And you're wait. (29:19) And you're 44?

Sarah (29:19) Yep.

Scott Benner (29:20) You start a little late?

Sarah (29:22) Start a little late for what? (29:23) Kids?

Scott Benner (29:23) Yeah. (29:24) 30. (29:24) How old were you when you

Sarah (29:25) 30 was my first kiddo. (29:27) My parents were totally young. (29:29) So, yes, they were totally done having three kids by, like, the time they were 27. (29:33) So, yes, starting at 30 is later than what they did for sure.

Scott Benner (29:38) Oh, your mom and dad are still younger then?

Sarah (29:40) Yeah. (29:40) My mom is 69, my dad is 70.

Scott Benner (29:43) How do you like that? (29:44) Can you still talk to them? (29:46) You know what I mean?

Sarah (29:46) Yeah. (29:47) I I have always loved that they're younger and always envisioned myself, like, being a super young parent, which I am what I am. (29:56) You know, it is what it is. (29:57) But I yeah. (29:58) I always I've always loved that.

Scott Benner (30:00) Okay. (30:00) You meet a guy late. (30:01) You build a career first?

Sarah (30:03) Like, I started building my career. (30:06) I loved I loved nursing and jumping into that. (30:10) We I didn't meet my husband till I was 26, I think.

Scott Benner (30:17) Oh, and he's older than you or younger?

Sarah (30:20) He's just a year older, so not

Scott Benner (30:21) Okay.

Sarah (30:22) Not that much older.

Scott Benner (30:23) So you waited till you found a decent one?

Sarah (30:26) Yeah. (30:27) And he's a decent guy. (30:28) And we got married when we were 29 and then, like, surprise, then had a baby at 30.

Scott Benner (30:34) Was three kids your goal?

Sarah (30:37) It was we didn't have a goal. (30:39) We for sure, wanted to try to have a boy and a girl or a son and a daughter. (30:44) And our we had boy, girl, and then we we sat on that, like, hey. (30:49) Maybe we're done. (30:50) Maybe we're not.

Sarah (30:51) And then it was just decided for us that we weren't done, and then we had a third.

Scott Benner (30:55) Did you go to a wedding? (30:56) What happened?

Sarah (30:59) I don't know.

Scott Benner (30:59) It was k. (31:00) Yeah. (31:00) I don't know. (31:02) Caught me in a weak moment.

Sarah (31:03) Got me in a weak moment.

Scott Benner (31:05) So you jumped onto a pump pretty quickly. (31:08) Did you go what what pump did you get?

Sarah (31:10) I went to the t slim.

Scott Benner (31:12) Okay. (31:12) And back then back then, but seven years ago, was there even bolus IQ at that point?

Sarah (31:18) No. (31:18) There was not.

Scott Benner (31:19) Okay. (31:20) I I guess take me a little bit through your education process because it was probably a self education. (31:25) Right? (31:25) Or did the endo finally jump in and add value?

Sarah (31:28) It really felt like a self education and partnering with my mom. (31:32) Like, even when I got started on a pump, it was my mom that came over and, like, walked me through it while I was on the phone with someone trying to tell me, but really it was my mom working through it and showing me how to use it. (31:45) And I remember calling my mom and being like, oh, my blood sugars are here. (31:51) Like, something's going on or this happened and this happened. (31:53) And she would help troubleshoot with me, which I thought was super valuable because, of course, your mom is just so much more available than any provider could ever be.

Sarah (32:02) And so that was invaluable for me. (32:04) And it was trial and error managed by me, less by endocrine.

Scott Benner (32:10) And how slowly was your ramp up in needs? (32:13) How many months or years did it take for you to get to your insulin need that you have now?

Sarah (32:18) I would say it was gradual but continuous. (32:23) It was, like, every year, I felt like I was taking more insulin. (32:28) That was the most stressful thing for me is, like, what the actual heck? (32:34) Like, this is just gonna keep going for the rest of my life. (32:37) Like, every year, I'm gonna be taking more insulin every single day.

Sarah (32:40) Like, that's terrible. (32:42) And it just it felt like that was the journey that I was on.

Scott Benner (32:46) So then tell me, would you prefer it all just happened in a moment, or do you I mean, I guess the question comes from a more, like, psychological side because I think health wise, you'd prefer that it to take forever if it could. (33:01) Right?

Sarah (33:01) For

Scott Benner (33:01) sure. (33:01) So what's your look back on that?

Sarah (33:03) My look back is, yes. (33:05) I probably have the preferred way of having it ramp up gradually, you know, every year getting more and more, and it was very distressing. (33:14) Like, the diabetes distress, which my diabetes educator quite shared that term with me and I really have globbed onto it, it just increased the distress every time I had to go up.

Scott Benner (33:28) Do you have any of those feelings of your body letting you down? (33:31) I guess this is probably a a forward looking thing, but, like, Erica and I are are starting to do a, a series around body grief. (33:38) Yeah. (33:38) And that idea of, like, how hard it is to live every day, like, feeling like your body's not doing what it's supposed to do and all that comes with that.

Sarah (33:48) I don't I totally see that, and I don't think that was my experience.

Scott Benner (33:52) Okay. (33:52) Or just this it was probably omnipresent, I guess. (33:56) Like, it's getting work. (33:57) It felt and it felt like it was getting worse. (33:59) Right?

Scott Benner (33:59) Yeah. (33:59) Making quotes. (34:00) Yeah. (34:01) So okay. (34:02) What made you wanna come on the podcast?

Scott Benner (34:04) Tell me again. (34:04) You you went over it at the beginning, but I'd like you to outline it again because I think I probably jerked you away from it a little bit.

Sarah (34:09) Yeah. (34:09) Sure thing. (34:10) My diabetes journey, when it kicked off, just stayed the same. (34:16) It's like this is type one, you're, you know, latter type one, but usually referred to as type one. (34:22) Your C peptide is really low.

Sarah (34:24) It was checked one time and this is what your life is gonna be. (34:29) And probably a year ago, the distress for me was really picking up, like, doing a ton of research. (34:38) Like, what else is there for type one? (34:40) What else is there? (34:41) This can't be it.

Sarah (34:43) It can't be just try harder, and you're doing so much better than, like, ninety percent of my patients. (34:50) But, like, that's not the goal I was looking for. (34:53) It's like, I want I want to have an a one c of someone without diabetes, and I want to be really tightly controlled. (35:02) And I want every single tool to be available to me, not just what the endocrinology team thinks is best for me. (35:10) I want all the research.

Sarah (35:12) I want all the potentials. (35:14) And so that's that's where I was sitting over the last year. (35:18) I got a recommendation to try a new endocrinologist in the spring, and that was life changing for me. (35:27) He really started at the beginning and said, I'm not gonna write a diagnosis on your chart. (35:34) We're gonna see what the labs tell us and we'll go from there.

Sarah (35:38) And so it was this really full history. (35:40) It was drawing every hormone under the sun, all the autoantibodies again, c peptide, literally everything. (35:47) And coming back to that appointment and walking through what my labs were telling was so insightful. (35:57) I was surprised that my c peptide was actually in the normal range. (36:02) It was like 1.5.

Sarah (36:04) And when I first was checked at diagnosis, I was like point four.

Scott Benner (36:09) I guess describe the difference between what I'll call, like, your first diagnosis with that endocrinologist and your, you know, what should we call it?

Sarah (36:19) Like, your the rebirth. (36:21) I don't know.

Scott Benner (36:21) Yeah. (36:22) Was gonna call it rebirth. (36:23) Like, you you know when you get married again? (36:24) Like, you're like, oh, let's do another wedding.

Sarah (36:26) Yes.

Scott Benner (36:26) You were like, let's start this over again.

Sarah (36:28) Exactly that.

Scott Benner (36:30) How did that really support you though?

Sarah (36:33) It was so validating to me. (36:35) And I remember, like, wanting to connect with my husband after this appointment to just talk through it. (36:41) And we were on a walk, and I was sobbing. (36:43) Like, I knew I knew there was more. (36:46) I knew that there was more to this than just what was available to me and that the story is so much deeper than just on paper.

Sarah (36:55) It felt like this endocrinologist was looking at me truly inside of who I was and what was going on with my body and wanting to respond to that versus your a one c looks great. (37:09) Keep up the good work. (37:10) And it Yeah. (37:11) It just was it was so validating.

Scott Benner (37:14) So you have this probably enduring feeling that there's more to this than I understand.

Sarah (37:19) Yes.

Scott Benner (37:19) And you can't just let it go. (37:21) Yeah. (37:22) Yes. (37:22) So that is infuriating, anxiety ridden, all the I would imagine a little bit of all that. (37:30) Yes.

Scott Benner (37:30) Yeah. (37:31) What made you like, what tipped you over? (37:35) What made you say, no. (37:35) You know what I really need to do? (37:37) I need to go find a different doctor who's gonna be more involved with me.

Scott Benner (37:40) Like, was there a a moment that pushed you or desperation?

Sarah (37:44) I think it was desperation. (37:46) It was a combination of a couple things. (37:48) I remember bringing an idea to my endocrinologist about amylin or reading about that and wondering, like, is that a place for me? (37:59) Is that something that's really helpful? (38:00) And I think I understand now that that's not prescribed anymore.

Sarah (38:04) Is that correct? (38:05) I think you probably know that.

Scott Benner (38:07) It does seem like I have an email from somebody who, you know, it's funny. (38:12) There's a guy that was on the podcast in the first year. (38:14) I haven't emailed him back yet. (38:16) This is great that you brought this up, actually. (38:18) He wants to come on about that.

Scott Benner (38:20) Oh, interesting. (38:21) Yeah. (38:22) I've been using it forever, and suddenly, I cannot find it. (38:27) It's, it's such a shame. (38:28) But, no, there's somebody very recently.

Scott Benner (38:30) So I don't know. (38:31) Is Amlan no longer available? (38:35) I don't know if that's the case.

Sarah (38:38) I feel like I read something, like, it's not as effective as maybe it was thought to be.

Scott Benner (38:45) Contextually, you were looking for anything. (38:48) I like this, by the way. (38:49) You and I would dork out together talking about stuff. (38:51) Like, so you, like, you were just like, maybe this will work.

Sarah (38:55) I was looking at everything and anything trying to find articles or research showing, like, what's the latest technology? (39:02) What have people tried? (39:04) Really just anything. (39:06) And what I think I was talking about, like what tips you over the edge, I reached out to my endocrinologist and asked like, what about Amylin? (39:14) And his response really punched me in the gut.

Sarah (39:19) And I don't blame him for it. (39:20) This is just where they were was I don't prescribe that, and I don't even know who I would recommend you to to prescribe that. (39:29) It, like, crushed me because it felt like, oh my gosh. (39:33) Like, there's all this chatter and all this research happening, and I'm not being offered that or I'm not even given the opportunity to discuss it. (39:42) Like, where where does that what's the place for that?

Sarah (39:45) Where do I have this conversation with a provider about all the things that I read? (39:50) And they tell me, yes. (39:52) It's a good idea. (39:53) No. (39:53) This is why this is not a good idea, but have that collaborative relationship.

Sarah (39:58) And that that pushed me over the edge.

Scott Benner (40:00) I also think that it's telling that anything that they don't do, many of them aren't gonna wanna be involved in. (40:07) You don't go into an office and say, hey, you know, would you sit here and philosophize with me for a few minutes about what would happen if this and maybe you and I will try it together and wouldn't that be interesting? (40:16) He's like, I don't know what to do and I don't know where to send you. (40:19) That sentence is, please stop asking me about this. (40:22) Mhmm.

Scott Benner (40:23) Yeah. (40:23) Because we're not talking about this anymore. (40:24) Yep. (40:25) And then then you were like, right on. (40:27) I'm gonna go find a different doctor.

Sarah (40:28) Yes. (40:28) Exactly that.

Scott Benner (40:30) I tell people all the time that when they wanna switch doctors, I would call around. (40:35) Like, I think and and have real conversations on the phone. (40:38) Lay out your expectations and say, is this the kind of office where this is permissible and encouraged? (40:44) Because if not, you're gonna make an appointment. (40:46) You're gonna wait weeks and months.

Scott Benner (40:48) You're gonna go in, say your thing, and run the risk of the person looking up at you and going, I don't do that. (40:52) I don't know where to send you for that. (40:54) Like, it could take you two years to find a good doctor that way. (40:56) How did you find one on the first try?

Sarah (40:58) It was divine intervention. (41:01) The diabetes educator that I was connecting with and really walking through all this, like I was able to be very real with her about what I was thinking, where my distress was, what that conversation with my provider was. (41:13) And she said, I have a recommendation for an endocrinologist. (41:16) She also gave me a couple other recommendations too. (41:19) She saw him at one point and she said he saved my life.

Sarah (41:22) He was able to diagnose me as Latta. (41:25) That's what she had said. (41:27) And she said he's different and it might be just what you're looking for. (41:31) So I, like, I did some research online. (41:34) There were some terrible reviews, but I just something felt like I had to try it, and I was able to get into them quickly, and it just worked it worked out.

Scott Benner (41:45) Yeah. (41:45) I I think that your vibe then when you got there was this is the right person.

Sarah (41:50) Yep. (41:51) Good. (41:51) Definitely.

Scott Benner (41:52) That's awesome. (41:52) Awesome. (41:53) So what else did you in that time of picking through and saying, how about Amlan? (41:57) Like, was there other things that popped up for you or ideas about management that you what did you think was in that toolbox that you hadn't opened yet?

Sarah (42:06) I read a lot about GLP ones because that was really coming out to, like, so much publicity. (42:12) Like, it was coming out on Bravo and Real Housewives and all this other stuff. (42:16) I'm like, what the heck is this, and how does it benefit? (42:19) And being available to just those with a type two diagnosis didn't necessarily make sense to me. (42:26) The more I read about it, the more I felt like this actually seems like there could be an offering beyond type two.

Sarah (42:34) So it was like knowing that that was all drumming up and getting excited and people were looking at it, seeing that there were some research started by using that on type one or people with type one. (42:45) And I think that was that was it. (42:48) Like, there's there's something else out there for me because these discussions are happening in research and articles and in the diabetes community.

Scott Benner (42:56) Are you using a GLP one now?

Sarah (42:58) I am.

Scott Benner (42:59) Which one?

Sarah (43:01) I never say this right. (43:03) Mounjaro. (43:04) Thank you. (43:04) I always wanna say, like, bonjour or something. (43:07) Mounjaro.

Sarah (43:07) Yes. (43:08) So

Scott Benner (43:09) how long and what dose?

Sarah (43:11) I have been on it since April and I am at seven point five.

Scott Benner (43:16) Did you have weight to lose?

Sarah (43:17) For sure. (43:18) Yep. (43:18) I Yeah. (43:19) Had like 15 pounds to lose.

Scott Benner (43:21) Is it gone?

Sarah (43:22) It's gone. (43:23) Yeah.

Scott Benner (43:24) And you so you're at seven point five because it's a good maintenance dose for you?

Sarah (43:28) Yes. (43:29) And because my my the weight loss happened pretty quickly in a short amount of time, and now my hair is falling out. (43:36) You know, I'm just going through some of that hair loss that happens, and so I'm not willing to go up. (43:41) I'm still seeing the great impact of it. (43:43) I just wanna hold until I know I'm not gonna lose all my hair.

Scott Benner (43:47) That does happen to some people. (43:49) Right? (43:49) Their hair thins a little bit. (43:50) Yeah. (43:52) Have you tried going backwards to see if you can hold position with with even less?

Sarah (43:57) I haven't. (43:58) No. (43:58) But that would be a good idea.

Scott Benner (44:00) If you don't wanna do it as a script, you could go on Amazon, buy vials, inject it into a vial, then draw it all out with an insulin needle to give yourself a measurement and then mess around with how much of it to give yourself.

Sarah (44:12) Oh, that's genius.

Scott Benner (44:13) Yeah. (44:13) Yeah. (44:14) Okay. (44:14) That's for you. (44:15) Arden right now is using 17 equivalent insulin units of Mounjaro, and I think it's a little too much.

Scott Benner (44:24) I think the next time she does it, I'm gonna try try tell her to try 15.

Sarah (44:27) Okay.

Scott Benner (44:28) It really keeps her blood sugars super stable.

Sarah (44:32) That's amazing.

Scott Benner (44:34) Yeah. (44:34) Do you have insulin resistance? (44:35) Is that where it's helping you?

Sarah (44:38) Well, can I can I go into a little bit more? (44:40) And if I'm telling you too much, please feel free to No.

Scott Benner (44:43) Go crazy. (44:44) Yeah. (44:44) Please. (44:45) Please.

Sarah (44:45) Within this endocrinology appointment, getting my c peptide level back, antibodies, which was GAD, and that I was positive for the insulin antibodies. (44:56) So knowing that, like, actual insulin was being attacked, and I did not have the islet antibody, which breaks down that protein in your pancreas. (45:08) So two out of those three. (45:10) So just learning all this, and he described it by having a c peptide in the normal range. (45:15) He said your beta cells or whatever is producing insulin are like raisins.

Sarah (45:21) We need to help those be grapes so that you can utilize the insulin or they can produce insulin and you can utilize it. (45:29) And so that that was a good visual for me to understand what we were gonna do with, GLP one. (45:38) So getting that c peptide level back and my autoantibodies allowed him to say, this is LADA for sure. (45:48) This is your diagnosis. (45:49) It's LADA, and you can be managed like type one or you can be managed like type two.

Sarah (45:56) And he said, if you're gonna be managed like type two, the repertoire of available medications just just explodes. (46:04) Like, there's so many other opportunities. (46:07) And he said, I think that you should go on a GLP one because it will protect those beta cells. (46:13) You'll have protection of those so they're not destroyed and that they'll work properly. (46:17) You'll have the cardiovascular benefit, the inflammation, and protection against dementia or all those things.

Sarah (46:26) And he said that's that's the way to go. (46:28) And that felt amazing. (46:30) Like, there's something else I can try, and it's not just insulin, and it's not just me trying harder. (46:36) It was, like, the gift no one would ever be able to give me. (46:39) It was amazing.

Scott Benner (46:42) That's awesome. (46:43) Yes. (46:43) How did and it's the same doctor. (46:45) You Same doctor. (46:46) Progressive doctor ended up helping you in a number of different ways.

Scott Benner (46:48) Yes. (46:49) Yeah.

Sarah (46:50) It just felt like this is someone who is understanding this journey and where people with distress are at. (46:57) And it felt like people should know this. (47:00) Like, you shouldn't just get your C peptide checked once. (47:02) It's fluid. (47:03) It changes depending on your blood glucose level.

Sarah (47:05) Like, you should be checking that regularly to ensure you have the right diagnosis because I'm sure there's folks out there with LADA who are managed like type one or diagnosed as type one only and then don't have access to additional medications where if they had these additional labs, they'd be able to have that access.

Scott Benner (47:26) Doctor Hamdi was on the show earlier this year, and he talked about that he believes there will be a lot of dual diagnosis in the future. (47:36) I believe that. (47:37) Yeah. (47:38) And how valuable that'll be. (47:39) I mean, that's ardent.

Scott Benner (47:40) That's how ardent is diagnosed is that, you know, if she didn't have type one, she'd be insulin resistant. (47:46) Like, she still would be. (47:47) And these two things are not mutually exclusive. (47:50) Like, she has yes. (47:52) She has type one diabetes, and she's more insulin resistant than you would expect her to be.

Scott Benner (47:58) And so, you know, it makes her eligible for that medication. (48:02) And what a big deal it it is for. (48:05) You know, for people who would say, oh, well, you just lost weight. (48:09) That's why you're using less insulin. (48:11) Do you have more context for them than that?

Sarah (48:13) I I do. (48:14) I it's that raisin grape, like, mentality that I feel like makes so much sense. (48:20) It you know, as soon as I started, it was like my insulin per carb ratio totally changed. (48:28) It was, like, from eight carbs for one unit to nine and then 10 and then 11, just like this marching change that I needed less insulin to to cover carbs. (48:39) And that was, like, immediate proof to me that this was working and that those beta cells were plumping up like grapes and they could function how they were supposed to.

Sarah (48:48) And it's for sure, like, you're you're gonna lose weight. (48:53) You're probably gonna eat less. (48:54) That is less insulin, but I'm not necessarily looking at how much insulin I'm using during the day. (49:01) I'm looking at how much insulin it takes to manage the carbs.

Scott Benner (49:06) Okay. (49:06) And do you see less significant spikes around food? (49:17) This episode was too good to cut anything out of, but too long to make just one episode. (49:22) So this is part one. (49:23) Make sure you go find part two right now.

Scott Benner (49:25) It's gonna be the next episode in your feed. (49:27) Today's episode was sponsored by Skin Grip. (49:31) And Skin Grip, they understand what life with diabetes is like, and they know how infuriating it can be when a device falls off prematurely. (49:39) And they don't want that to happen to you. (49:41) Juice Box podcast listeners save 20% off with their first order when you use the link skingrip.com/juicebox.

Scott Benner (49:48) Links are also available in the show notes of your podcast player and at juiceboxpodcast.com. (49:54) Today's episode is also sponsored by the Omnipod five. (49:58) And at my link, omnipod.com/juicebox, you can get yourself a free what I just say? (50:05) A free Omnipod five starter kit. (50:08) Free?

Scott Benner (50:10) Get out of here. (50:10) Go click on that link. (50:11) Omnipod.com/juicebox. (50:14) Check it out. (50:14) Terms and conditions apply.

Scott Benner (50:16) Eligibility may vary. (50:18) Full terms and conditions can be found at omnipod.com/juicebox. (50:22) Links in the show notes. (50:24) Links at juiceboxpodcast.com. (50:27) Arden has been getting her diabetes supplies from US Med for three years.

Scott Benner (50:31) You can as well. (50:32) Usmed.com/juicebox or call (888) 721-1514. (50:39) My thanks to US Med for sponsoring this episode and for being longtime sponsors of the Juice Box Podcast. (50:45) There are links in the show notes and links at juiceboxpodcast.com to US Med and all of the sponsors. (50:52) As the holidays approach, I wanna thank all of my good friends for coming back to the Juice Box podcast over and over again.

Scott Benner (50:58) It means the world to me. (50:59) It's the greatest gift you could give me. (51:01) Thank you so very much. (51:03) Unless, of course, you wanna share the show with someone else, then that would be an awesome gift too or a five star review. (51:08) I don't know.

Scott Benner (51:08) You don't really owe me a gift, but, I mean, if you're looking for something to do. (51:12) You know, subscribe and follow, tell a friend, etcetera. (51:14) Thank you. (51:15) Merry Christmas. (51:19) Hey.

Scott Benner (51:20) I'm dropping in to tell you about a small change being made to the Juice Cruise twenty twenty six schedule. (51:25) This adjustment was made by Celebrity Cruise Lines, not by me. (51:28) Anyway, we're still going out on the Celebrity Beyond cruise ship, which is awesome. (51:32) Check out the walkthrough video at juiceboxpodcast.com/juicecruise. (51:37) The ship is awesome.

Scott Benner (51:39) Still a seven night cruise. (51:41) It still leaves out of Miami on June 21. (51:44) Actually, most of this is the same. (51:45) We leave Miami June 21, head to Coco Cay in The Bahamas, but then we're going to San Juan, Puerto Rico instead Of Saint Thomas. (51:53) After that, Bastille, I think I'm saying that wrong, Saint Kitts And Nevis.

Scott Benner (51:57) This place is gorgeous. (51:59) Google it. (52:00) Mean, I you're probably gonna have to go to my link to get the correct spelling because my pronunciation is so bad. (52:04) But once you get the Saint Kitts and you Google it, you're gonna look and see a photo that says to you, oh, I wanna go there. (52:10) Come meet other people living with type one diabetes from caregivers to children to adults.

Scott Benner (52:17) Last year, we had a 100 people on our cruise, and it was fabulous. (52:22) You can see pictures to get at my link juiceboxpodcast.com/juicecruise. (52:27) Can see those pictures from last year there. (52:29) The link also gives you an opportunity to register for the cruise or to contact Suzanne from Cruise Planners. (52:35) She takes care of all the logistics.

Scott Benner (52:37) I'm just excited that I might see you there. (52:39) It's a beautiful event for families, for singles, a wonderful opportunity to meet people, swap stories, make friendships, and learn. (52:49) Have you tried the Small Sip series? (52:51) They're curated takeaways from the Juice Box podcast, voted on by listeners as the most helpful insights for managing their diabetes. (52:58) These bite sized pieces of wisdom cover essential topics like insulin timing, carb management, and balancing highs and lows, making it easier for you to incorporate real life strategies into your daily routine.

Scott Benner (53:09) Dive deep, take a sip, and discover what our community finds most valuable on the journey to better diabetes management. (53:16) For more information on small sips, go to juiceboxpodcast.com. (53:20) Click on the word series in the menu. (53:22) Hey. (53:23) What's up, everybody?

Scott Benner (53:23) If you've noticed that the podcast sounds better and you're thinking, like, how does that happen? (53:29) What you're hearing is Rob at Wrong Way Recording doing his magic to these files. (53:34) So if you want him to do his magic to you, wrongwayrecording.com. (53:39) You got a podcast? (53:40) You want somebody to edit it?

Scott Benner (53:41) You want Rob.

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