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#1248 Dill Pickle

Stacie was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 10. She shares her story of managing diabetes, overcoming a challenging family background and surviving a serious car accident.

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

Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends welcome to episode 1248 of the Juicebox Podcast

Well, here's one for you Stacy's 55 years old she was diagnosed when she was 10. She spent three days in a coma from her blood sugar at diagnosis. Her father was an alcoholic. Her mother was bipolar. She found out she was adopted later in life. She got into a car accident while she was pregnant with her son. This story has a little bit of everything. Please don't forget that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your healthcare plan or becoming bold with insulin cozy earth.com use the offer code juice box at checkout to save 30% off of your entire cart. Those are the towels, the sheets, the clothes, anything you can find at cozy earth.com You'll save 30% with the offer code juice box at checkout links in the show notes links at juicebox podcast.com. When you place your first order for ag one with my link, you'll get five free travel packs and a free year supply of vitamin D. Drink ag one.com/juice box. Don't forget for community you want the Juicebox Podcast Facebook group is called Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes there are currently 51,000 members it grows by 150 Every three days. Go over there and check it out.

Today's episode is sponsored by Medtronic diabetes, a company that's bringing people together to redefine what it means to live with diabetes. Later in this episode, I'll be speaking with Jalen, he was diagnosed with type one diabetes at 14. He's 29. Now he's going to tell you a little bit about his story. To hear more stories with Medtronic champions. Go to Medtronic diabetes.com/juice box or search the hashtag Medtronic champion on your favorite social media platform. This episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by Dexcom dexcom.com/juice. Box get the brand new Dexcom G seven with my link and get started today.

Stacie 2:13
So my name is Stacy and I was actually diagnosed with type one diabetes. Exactly 45 years ago yesterday. Good to hear. Yeah.

Scott Benner 2:27
December 27. Hold on a second 40. You want to see if I can figure out what 45 years ago was? Sure. It shouldn't be hard, right? shouldn't be because it's 20. The end of 2023. So we're working with a pretty clean number here. So we use 2024. We take 24 off that takes you to 2000 Right. And we take 20 More authentication 89 up to 4479.

Stacie 2:56
I believe it's 1978.

Scott Benner 2:59
So close. All right. So I should have started with 2023. Not 2024. Yeah, that was my Mr. House. That's not my fault. Yeah, I was educated poorly. Okay, so December 27. And by the way, yes. I'm working a couple of days after Christmas. That's fine. By the way, most people are like, yeah, so sir. Wait. Podcast guy doesn't think we work after Christmas. No, no, I know. What do you find us? My goodness? How old were you?

Stacie 3:27
I was 10. Wow. Okay. Well, gosh. But yeah, that was surprised,

Scott Benner 3:35
huh? Yeah,

Stacie 3:36
it was a surprise. I was a really sick little kid. I really, you know, looking back on it, I can see it happening for a long time getting up in the middle of the night. You know, three, four times to go to the bathroom. I would cut my hands underneath the faucet and let water run into my hands and stick my face into that little pool of water in my hands and just suck it out like a straw. I was so thirsty. And Christmas came and my sister was home for Christmas. She was 12 years older, and lived on the other side of the state. And I wanted to go back with her so badly to spend some time with her, which I often did as a kid. And it was a three hour drive. And it was Christmas Eve or Christmas day when we we took the drive and my parents were like, No, she's not. She's not feeling so good. She doesn't look so good. And I'm like, I'll be fine. I'll be fine. I want to go so bad. So they let me go. And I remember I mean it was dark out. Everything was closed. I had to go to the bathroom so bad. We stopped. I remember stepping once at a police state Shouldn't along the way, because there were people there and I could use the bathroom and then another step at I think it was like an assisted living place. And then we made another step at her aunt's house. And then we finally get to her house. They thought I had the flu. So of course, I'm drinking orange juice. She had to work during the day. And so her roommate would come home and I just, I wanted a 711 Slurpee so bad. So she'd take me down to 711 and I get a Slurpee. My parents called one night to see how I was doing. And I remember they put me on the phone. And I could hardly talk. I was so sick. I remember just being so tired and weak. They said to my sister, get her to the emergency room. So we went to the emergency room. I remember her carrying me into the hospital. And then I went into a coma. I remember going into the, to the room. They walked in and they knew right away. I had type one. I passed out and I was in a coma for three days. Oh my gosh. Did a blood sugar of 12 180. Can

Scott Benner 6:17
I ask you, Stacy, you said you were a sick little kid. Did you mean in that moment or for your whole life?

Stacie 6:22
No, in that moment, okay. Yeah, I think I had been sick for a while looking back on it. You know, looking at pictures. I just remember being really thirsty all the time and peeing all the time. And I think that was going on for a while.

Scott Benner 6:39
Younger people have to appreciate that in 1978 if they thought you had the flu, you got orange juice, and that was it.

Stacie 6:45
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Orange juice.

Scott Benner 6:50
Is their stomach upset. Give her ginger ale, ginger ale and orange juice. See you people you complain about life, but I was alive back then. We had I got the what I have the one time bronchitis. Can you imagine bronchitis? Do you know how I got through bronchitis? I sat on the sofa and watch television. Oh, yes. That was it. I was in immense pain. I could not breathe horrible. Like you know fevers in and out, like passing out for hours at a time waking back up. I got ginger ale are introduced and television. There's no medicine. No one took you to a doctor. No, they were like, I wonder if this one will live. Let's find out. Oh, gosh. Parents are like, by the way, also 1978 This isn't in your Toyota Camry. This is some rust bucket with air blowing through the doors and you can't hear a damn thing when you're on the highway because it's so loud in the car. And you're lucky if the thing stops when you step on the brake. It's a car from the 70s You guys don't even know. God. Damn, Stacy. You're lucky to be alive. Oh, yeah. No, you really are lucky to be alive. So you were in a coma for three days? Yeah, get out of here. Oh my gosh.

Stacie 8:04
I remember coming to and hearing voices all around me. My parents were there. And all of a sudden, I was laying there my eyes closed. And I'm like I smell dill pickles.

Scott Benner 8:17
Dexcom g7 offers an easier way to manage diabetes without finger sticks. It is a simple CGM system that delivers real time glucose numbers to your smartphone, your smartwatch. And it effortlessly allows you to see your glucose levels and where they're headed. My daughter is wearing a Dexcom g7 Right now, and I can't recommend it enough. Whether you have commercial insurance, Medicare coverage, or no CGM coverage at all Dexcom can help you go to my link dexcom.com/juice box and look for that button that says Get a free benefits check. That'll get you going with Dexcom. When you're there, check out the Dexcom clarity app where the follow Did you know that people can follow your Dexcom up to 10 people can follow you. Right now I'm following my daughter but my wife is also following her. Her roommates at school are following her. So I guess Arden is being followed right now by five people who are concerned for her health and welfare. And you can do the same thing. School Nurses, your neighbor, people in your family. Everyone can have access to that information if you want them to have it. Or if you're an adult and you don't want anyone to know, you don't have to share with anybody. It's completely up to you. dexcom.com/juice box links in the show notes links at juicebox podcast.com. And when you use my link to learn about Dexcom you're supporting the podcast. This episode is sponsored by Medtronic diabetes, Medtronic diabetes.com/juice box and now we're going to hear from Medtronic champion. Jalen was

Speaker 1 9:53
going straight into high school so it was a summer getting into high school was that particularly difficult, unimaginable Oh, you know, I missed my entire summer. So I went, I was going to a brand new school, I was around a bunch of new people that I had not been going to school with. So it was hard trying to balance that while also explaining to people what type one diabetes was. My hometown did not have an endocrinologist. So I was traveling over an hour to the nearest endocrinologist for children. So you know, outside of that I didn't have any type of support in my hometown.

Scott Benner 10:26
Did you try to explain to people or did you find it easier just to stay private?

Speaker 1 10:31
I honestly I just held back I didn't really like talking about it. It was just, it felt like it was just an repeating record where I was saying things and people weren't understanding it. And I also was still in the process of learning it. So I just kept it to myself didn't really talk about it. Did

Scott Benner 10:46
you eventually find people in real life that you could confide in. I

Speaker 1 10:51
never really got the experience until after getting to college. And then once I graduated college, it's all I see. You know, you can easily search Medtronic champions, you see people that pop up and you're like, wow, look at all this content. And I think that's something that motivates me started embracing more. You know, how I'm able to type one diabetes, Medtronic

Scott Benner 11:11
diabetes.com/juice box to hear more stories from the Medtronic champion community.

Stacie 11:17
And I heard my mom's voice and my Mom, have you been eating dill pickles? I want to dill pickle so bad. Wait, why is she eating a pickle? Well, she they had been to lunch, and she had added dill pickle. And I could smell it on her breath. And I wanted to dill pickle so bad. Everybody was so excited. I was awake. Yeah,

Scott Benner 11:45
no kidding. Three days, they basically thought they were like, how are we going to get the orange shoe center when she's sleeping? By the way, Stacy really quickly. Let's get back to the dill pickle in a second. But do you think people listening heard air blowing through the doors of a car and thought that's not true?

Stacie 12:03
Oh, gosh. Well, yeah, probably. Yeah. Yeah. It

Scott Benner 12:07
is true. By the way, for those of you listening, they didn't seal that well. And air like cold air. Like in the middle of the winter. You have to wear your jacket, the damn car, the heating barely worked. Air conditioning.

Stacie 12:18
I think my sister brought me across the state in Nova. Yes, it was exactly that. You could hear the air and it was freezing in there. You

Scott Benner 12:28
can hear the air blowing through. It's freezing cold. The defroster doesn't work. The brakes are for crap. There's no you know, power steering sometimes. And cars. People are like cranking on the wheel to make a turn. And above all that the motor is going like this the entire time you're driving. Oh.

Stacie 12:47
And vinyl seats. Yeah,

Scott Benner 12:48
but don't worry, because the radio works once in a great while you all complain your joke. I'll tell you right now, by the way, and go back 50 years before me. And that Nova looks like a leather sofa. Oh my god. No one knows. Anyway, this is not the point. The point is dill pickles saved your life. That's what I'm hearing.

Stacie 13:09
Oh, I'm pretty sure that's it. And I've been obsessed with them ever since. So

Scott Benner 13:15
yeah. You've had you've had your fair share of dill pickles. Oh, yes.

Stacie 13:19
Did they go get yourself? I don't remember that. I'm sure eventually they did. Yeah, no.

Scott Benner 13:24
Oh, that's amazing. You just kind of popped open asking for pickles. Huh? Yes. And no, no. deficits. Nothing, right?

Stacie 13:33
No. Wow.

Scott Benner 13:35
It's just dumb luck. That's really dumb luck. Because if you hadn't gone with your sister, your parents would have figured it out sooner. I imagine.

Stacie 13:42
If I hadn't gone with my sister. They said I would have died within an hour.

Scott Benner 13:48
Oh, wait, when you went to the emergency room? Yeah, no. Yeah. No, you were on your way. Yeah, for sure. Because you you probably use the last little bit of Will you had to make it to the hospital. And then you pass out when you got there. Yeah, gosh, boy, that's crazy. How long do you remember how long you were in the hospital after that?

Stacie 14:04
Two weeks. Geez. I was in the hospital and one side of the state and I lived with my parents on the other side of the state. So I was in that hospital until after the new year. And then they transported me to the hospital in my hometown. That was there for quite a while to just trying to get regulated and teach me what I needed to know. They wouldn't let me leave the hospital until I gave my own shot.

Scott Benner 14:35
Yeah. Isn't that something that was that was what you needed to know back then. Oh, yeah. It was so important. Did you get this needle and you can you're good. Gosh, what insulin Do you recall? It

Stacie 14:47
was the beef and pork insulin. It was two different kinds. Mix them in one syringe in the syringes. Oh my gosh, the needles were ginormous. that's in the head. Visible birds on them. Yeah, they

Scott Benner 15:04
tear through your skin right? Oh, God, they were awful birds. Yeah. So tell people did you have like a sharpening stone that used to have to sharpen the needles with?

Stacie 15:14
No, no stone just had the burrs right in, I think. And I swear the needles were an inch long.

Scott Benner 15:24
They were big. Do you recall? Like the discomfort from it, you recall it still are now? Yes, you do.

Stacie 15:32
Well, and not only that. So once I was discharged from the hospital, my dad had to take me to the hospital every single morning for a couple of weeks to get a fasting blood draw. Because there was no other way to tell what my blood sugar was running. So every morning, we would go to the hospital, and I get a blood draw. And at that point, after spending two weeks in the hospital, and then another two weeks getting poked every morning, there was nothing left, like my arms. I remember my arms were black and blue. My hands were black and blue. It was pretty traumatic. And after that, and to this day, I have a tremendous fear of needles.

Scott Benner 16:20
I bet you do. What do you how do you manage today,

Stacie 16:24
I use a little self hypnosis. I go to the same lab every single time to get my blood drawn. Because I am familiar with the environment. And the people there are really good at doing it. I made a mistake once of going to a different lab. There was this newbie, drawing blood. She had a nerve in my arm. And I got the tunnel vision. I was throwing up passing out it was a terrible experience, like a panic attack. Yeah, I knew it was coming. Like she hit that she had the nerve. And, you know, it was a little nervous anyway, and I said, I just I freaked out and get it out. You hit a nerve. And I sat there and I was trying to relax and do the deep breathing. And then all of a sudden tunnel vision started and I'm like, well, here it goes. I knew this was gonna happen

Scott Benner 17:25
to you have to look at the needle or do you have to look away from it? Oh, I

Stacie 17:29
can't look at it. No. Arden stares at it. Oh,

Scott Benner 17:32
like I'm just gonna say like a mental patient but I don't think that's the thing we can say anymore. But she stare she does. She stares at it like a mental but she stairs and stairs and stairs, the stairs and I'm like Arden. Why don't you look away? She was I need to see it happen. I'm like what? Oh, she hates it, too.

Stacie 17:47
I can't even watch a movie that has sharp objects in it. Yeah,

Scott Benner 17:51
no kidding. Well, I mean, you spend enough time being stabbed by by the way. Do you think people know what a bar is? Like? Like the needles would tear a little bit and then they get these little bumps of metal on them. And a lot of people that I've talked to you from back then sorry, Stacy. But back then, like they would talk about like a whetstone where they'd sharpen their own needles, but it sounds like they were just like, you'll be fine. Just shove that in there. So Oh, and you're not fine. You have a Arden's taking ozempic Right now, like really low doses of it. She's only been doing it for a couple of weeks. And we've been seeing about by the way, it's cut her insulin use significantly. Oh, wow. But she's kidding, like a quarter of a milligram in, you know, from a pen. And my God, she's like, Dad, I'm allergic to needles, and I'm like, what? And she goes, it hurts. And I was like, I don't disbelieve her. Oh, by the way, because she's pretty tough kid about a lot of stuff. And she's like, I just really I hate getting poked like that. And I mean, you guys know, at this point, like it's an insulin pen. It's not a very big needle. Boy, she's like, Oh, it hurts afterwards for a while and like, interesting, you know? But yeah, she not a fan. And she was doing okay, for the first number of like, years actually with diabetes. But I will never forget the time in the office. They came in to give her a blood draw. And she was little they used to, they didn't take her to the like the phlebotomist room at the end of they used to do it right there because it's kind of friendlier in the room and everything. And one day after years of it being okay. She just recoiled into a corner and I thought she was going to climb right through the ceiling to get away from them and she has not been okay with them since then. So, yeah, something actually alright. So I feel for you because I've seen it. You're not MDI though. Now?

Stacie 19:41
No, no, no. Okay. Interesting. You know, my parents were told I wasn't gonna make it out of my 20s Oh, really? I can't even imagine. You know, being a parent and having them say that. You know, when I was growing up, we never we never talked about diabetes. We never do. talked about my care. We just lived life, I took my shots. And my mom was a really good cook. You know, she would cook a really good dinner every night. But I just took my shot before breakfast, went out to play, came home for dinner. And that was that we we never talked about it. And I think they just wanted me to live the most normal life that they thought I could live. And it was, it just was never discussed, because they thought you were gonna die. I believe so. I think that was the reasoning behind it.

Scott Benner 20:38
Like, if this is what's gonna happen to her, then we'll just make it as good as it

Stacie 20:44
can be. Yeah, we want to give her the best life she can live and we're not gonna live under this stress.

Scott Benner 20:51
Are they alive? Still? No, my

Stacie 20:53
dad passed away when I was 23 When my mom passed away four years ago.

Scott Benner 21:02
Oh, wow. Your dad had a heart attack?

Stacie 21:05
Yes, yeah. Well, he he had several heart attacks. And then what finally took him was a stroke.

Scott Benner 21:13
I'm not a soothsayer. It's just that time, man. It's about what would happen if you died early. You know, a ton of

Stacie 21:19
he smoked. Oh, two three packs of cigarettes a day and he had chronic alcoholism.

Scott Benner 21:28
I will. I'll tell you what, I might be an alcoholic. If you told my kid was gonna die. In their 20s Yeah, my father used to smoke three packs of cigarettes a day too. So I mean, it was just like non stop. It was one after another. I've seen my dad. Yeah, I've seen my dad smoke in the shower.

Stacie 21:44
Oh, yeah.

Scott Benner 21:48
So not uncommon. Anyway, next time beer like nobody should tell me what to do. I don't need to be told that vape pens aren't good for me. Yeah, apparently we need new people to tell us sometimes what's okay. Because when no one was telling you it was bad. My father was smoking in the shower. Please wrap your head around that for a second. He was up lighting a cigarette at the side of the bed. had it done before he got in the shower lit another one while he was in there because he couldn't be away from it too long. was smoking while he was eating while he was eating. I can't believe I'm alive. Actually. him leaving my mom might have saved my life. And my brother's perfectly honest. Because the house secondhand smoke. Yeah, no kidding. Yeah. My mom did die of cancer eventually. So I don't know. I still might not be out of this different time for sure. Also, they were probably like if she's not going to live much longer. Let's not spend money on extra needles. Well, how did you how did you read

Stacie 22:50
those bird needles?

Scott Benner 22:52
I mean, listen, we love her and all but times are tight and booze isn't cheap. Other brothers and sisters?

Stacie 23:02
Yes, I have. Let me figure this out. I have two half brothers and three half sisters. Okay.

Scott Benner 23:12
Two half brothers, three half sisters. Do any of them have any autoimmune issues?

Stacie 23:17
On my mother's side? So my grandfather, my mother and my sister all have or had lupus. My sister was recently diagnosed with shrunk grins. Yeah. My dad's side I have a sister with Ms. And ants with rheumatoid arthritis.

Scott Benner 23:47
Do and you're

Stacie 23:51
up in that like

Scott Benner 23:54
Viking part of the country right? Like in Wisconsin II Michigan Guinea like in that space up there. Michigan Yeah. And now where the Vikings landed something like that. Yeah,

Stacie 24:05
probably somewhere in those lakes. Yeah,

Scott Benner 24:09
well they wanted the water they liked the water they got inland they were like where's the water? He said those boats with the big things in the front now there's no water. So they probably went to a lake that's what I'm getting that but a lot of like, European background. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. You bet you're the only type one tell me about your A onesies growing up and

Stacie 24:30
and how they went? Okay, so I don't remember there even being a one CS until I was maybe late high school. Definitely. In college. I remember even when CS being discussed. Again. It was just it was a fasting blood draw in the morning and that's that's how they made treatment decisions. If I was blood sugar was high then the doctor would up My insulin, I was expected to bring in numbers and a booklet. Like I know a lot of people had to do. But I fed the numbers all the time, I didn't want to disappoint anybody. And I didn't want to look like I was failing. And at the same time, didn't know how to take care of myself. I don't think my parents knew how to really follow. We didn't count carbs or anything like that, right. So they just fed me good food. And I took my shots. And that was it. I was extremely, and still athletic, into all the sports, a lot of activities. And I think that's what's saved me all my life. I've been very active. I don't sit still much. The funny thing I was thinking about this the other day, you know, looking back on my whole life, I never experienced a low blood sugar ever, up until into my late 20s. Because

Scott Benner 26:06
your blood sugar was always high. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. How high do you think it was most of the time. I'm a big fan of starting every day the same way. That's why I enjoy my morning routine that includes ag one. I put my trust into ag one because unlike so many products, their entire formula is backed by research studies. Ag one has been third party tested for safety for years, and it is trusted by experts and medical professionals, giving you one less thing to research on your own. In one study at the 30 day, Mark 80% of people in this study noticed the less gas and bloating How about that? And 97% of people in that same research study felt more energy at 60 days. 82% of people in a research study feel less stressed, we can all use with that. Are you kidding me? Less stress, fewer farts, ag one baby. If there's one product I trust to support my whole body health and to keep me from farting. It's a big one. And that's why I've partnered with them for so long. This episode of the podcast is sponsored by ag one and it's easy and satisfying to start your journey with them today. Try ag one and get a free one year supply of vitamin d3 k two and five free ag one travel bags with your first purchase at drink ag one.com/juice box that's drink ag one.com/juice box, check it out. Well,

Stacie 27:32
when they started doing the E onesies. I was 1415 pretty consistently. And I would go to the doctor and now this was back in college. I go to the doctor and the doctor would say you gotta do better. And you know, you've got this a one C A 14 And that's not good. And you got to do better. And I'm like, okay, whatever. You know, I, again, I wasn't given the tools or the resources when I was younger. And neither were my parents. And we we just kind of ignored it.

Scott Benner 28:12
Do you think they ever looked at you and we're like, oh my god, she's still alive. We not think we're gonna have to send her to college. Or,

Stacie 28:18
like I said, my dad had a problem with alcohol. My mother had an untreated mental illness. It was a very stressful environment. I think the two of them were very protective of me. They they loved and adored me. They were great people. But there were certainly a lot of issues. And I found myself as I was getting a little bit older, kind of becoming the parent. When I went off to college, like I couldn't wait to go off to college because I needed to get out of that environment.

Scott Benner 28:58
What did your mom have that wasn't being helped? I

Stacie 29:01
believe she had bipolar. But she she had a lot of auditory hallucinations and little delusions of grandeur. And my dad felt like he couldn't do anything about it because she was extremely opinionated. And she would make your life hell if you tried to tell her that. She needed some help. To her. She was fine. Okay. Yeah,

Scott Benner 29:36
that's a lot to deal with. For sure. So a onesies fourteens in college. How long did that continue for?

Stacie 29:44
Let me think when I got out of college, I went to work. I got married right away. I got pregnant and that's when you know, the doctor said no Have you really, we really got to get a control on this. So that's, I started checking my sugar with a glucometer, which I had never done and taking more injections. You know, I was taking, you know, two to three shots a day. How old are you when you're pregnant? I was one, two. And then I had my first child when I was 23. And then I had my second one, I was 24. So my kids are 12 and a half months apart.

Scott Benner 30:30
They see got pregnant before it got married or got married, then got pregnant, got married and then got pregnant. Okay, so that's like, at, like, 1990 ish.

Stacie 30:42
Around there. My daughter was born in 90. Okay. No, my daughter was born in 92.

Scott Benner 30:48
But you got married around it.

Stacie 30:52
I got married in 91.

Scott Benner 30:54
And right out of college, so was this a hate? Are you still married? To somebody different? Were you like, I will marry the first person who makes it? I don't have to go back home with those two.

Stacie 31:06
You know, kind of Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Benner 31:10
So married a college sweetheart. No,

Stacie 31:13
I married an older man that I met where I was working. And oh, that's a whole story in itself. Let me tell him. I mean, we don't want to go down a rabbit hole. Because what

Scott Benner 31:28
do you see like Security money, like Security money, a guy who wasn't drunk like that kind of stuff. He was

Stacie 31:34
narcissistic, manipulative, made everything look just wonderful. The outside and at the beginning. I became pretty codependent. And it was it was terrible.

Scott Benner 31:50
And but your child is with him? Both of them. My

Stacie 31:55
two children are with him. Okay. All right. Got it. How long did that last? That lasted until in 97. So the kids were just three and four. Gotcha.

Scott Benner 32:11
So the doctor says we have to get this better. Speaking about your agency when you're when you're pregnant? And the answer was take a couple more injections a day. And we're going to start using a meter in in the night. God 12 years after you've had diabetes. You started using a meter? Yes. Wow. That crazy, isn't it? Now when you look back at it, don't do you not see that and think

Stacie 32:35
that's insane. Oh, god, yeah. You have no idea how I feel.

Scott Benner 32:42
Ya know, just oh my gosh, how did that happen? Right? And why did somebody not tell you sooner?

Stacie 32:49
Oh, my word. They just assumed it. I knew

Scott Benner 32:52
where they're not meters, or where their meters and you just didn't have one. When

Stacie 32:57
I was pregnant with my daughter, my first child, my doctor and he was a PCP. He's like, we got to put you in the hospital. You got to we got to get some better control over this. So he had mitad me to the hospital where I sat in a bed, you know, I'm feeling I felt I wasn't sick. And you know how it is you any everybody talks about it, you go into the hospital. And nurses can't do anything without doctor's orders. Doctor's orders don't come in until like two in the afternoon. I'm sitting there. I'm asking for insulin injections. They're not giving them to me because the doctor didn't order it. I need to move because I can't sit still I like to go on walks and hikes and exercise. And I was confined to this room. And I remember arguing with them going saying this is making it worse I need to exercise. Anyway, that's where I get my first glucometer was in the hospital. Then I discharged myself from the hospital without any support from the doctor. So I signed papers and I left

Scott Benner 34:18
by the way at that point still are using regular an MPH at that point. I'm just guessing because early 90s Yeah, I

Stacie 34:25
think I was and

Scott Benner 34:27
so they had you injecting a little more insulin to try to bring your blood sugar's down somewhat and test a little bit still are not coming down much I would imagine because you still haven't experienced a low blood sugar

Stacie 34:37
to be honest with you now that think back on it. I was I wasn't better control. I did experience some low blood sugars while I was pregnant because that was my second pregnancy. I get into a terrible car accident.

Scott Benner 34:53
Oh, so not in the first one. But in that way in your second pregnancy. You had a car accident? Yeah. Oh my gosh. That's scary. Especially because, yeah, so were you in the hospital after the accident?

Stacie 35:05
Yeah, yes, I'm pregnant. I was three months pregnant. And I had, I had had my daughter with me and I passed out at the wheel and slipped the car like five or six times, and ended up in the hospital.

Scott Benner 35:23
You know, it's almost impossible to roll a car over nowadays are engineered so well.

Stacie 35:30
Not in the 90s. And

Scott Benner 35:32
the doors, they keep out air and everything. They're very, very fancy nowadays. You right? Wow, that's insane. So low blood sugar. You passed out? Yeah. Oh, gosh. And that everyone's okay.

Stacie 35:46
My daughter, who was, gosh, she was seven months old. She broke her collarbone. And that's it. I had a concussion and a bunch of bruising. And son who I was pregnant with was fine.

Scott Benner 36:02
Was she in a seat? Did they have Did you have a car seat?

Stacie 36:05
He had a car seat. But they didn't make those the way they make them now, either. She, oh, this is so scary. I remember. It was a very warm September day. And I had the windows all partially rolled down because I was my blood sugar was low. I was trying to get home. I wasn't thinking right. I had some sugar. Like I taken some. And I thought I am almost home. I'm gonna get there. I'm almost there. I passed out. And I remember flipping through the air and landed in a ditch. And my daughter had flown out of the car seat out the window and ended up in a cornfield about trying to think 100 feet from the car. She's She just broke her collarbone. She just broke her collarbone.

Scott Benner 37:11
She's not weird or anything when you talk to her. I'm just kidding. That when you see there's never a moment when you're like, oh, maybe it's not the more happened in that car accident. Nothing like that.

Stacie 37:20
I can't say that. Oh, you're the way you weren't because I dropped you on your head. You are the way you are because you flew out of the car window. I

Scott Benner 37:29
flung you into a cornfield. That's why yes, that's insane. Like, God, that's crazy. Did they wake you up with dill pickles? By any chance at the accident scene?

Stacie 37:40
I probably would have come to faster. I'm just gonna say

Scott Benner 37:43
if they if they knew that. They knew to use that as smelling salts for you then. Probably. So I'm sorry. You wake up your blood sugar's low. Do they know you have diabetes? Yes.

Stacie 37:55
Because the volunteer firemen. That was the first on the scene. He was who we rented our house from. And he knew that I was type one. Oh

Scott Benner 38:09
my gosh. And so they revive you? Do they have the baby at that point? Or?

Stacie 38:14
Well, like I remember coming to and, you know, in and out of consciousness. And all I could say was my baby, my baby. And he knew I had a baby too. And he's like, the babies with you and like, is she not in the car? And then all of a sudden people were, you know, lined up and walking through the cornfields looking for the baby Jesus Christ.

Scott Benner 38:41
Do you call her Children of the Corn? When she acts? Oh, that's

Stacie 38:45
a that's a good idea.

Scott Benner 38:47
If I was there, that's what would happen. So it's too late now. I mean, she's probably Yeah, she's probably she's probably in her 20s now. Yeah,

Stacie 38:56
she is. 31 Wow, gosh, that's really

Scott Benner 39:00
something got dim as white people come on telly. There's no way you thought you're going to tell that story when you got on the podcast today.

Stacie 39:06
No, I I had like I had a whole outline of other things. Yeah,

Scott Benner 39:11
no, I don't care about that stuff. That's incredible. Now, in your note to me, you say that you're a onesies now, but in the sixes forever. So at what point? And what tools did you get that changed all that for you? After

Stacie 39:26
my divorce. I went back to work to where I was previously working, which was a vocational rehab workshop for people with injuries and developmental disabilities. And there was this young man, I believe he was like 22 or 23 years old. He had had his leg amputated because he was a type one and didn't take care of himself. And all my co workers were like, Oh, you got to talk to this guy. You got to talk to him, You got to knock some sense into him, you got to tell him how to take care of himself. And I just remember thinking, I don't even know how to take care of myself, How can I tell somebody else? How to take care of themselves. At this point I was maybe 28 years old,

Scott Benner 40:21
you're probably thinking I should ask him advice about how to get around with one leg because I, you're probably closer to him than he is to be in you. Exactly. And you weren't, you're no great shakes at that point. So that is that what scared you

Stacie 40:33
I was a single parent. And I'm like, I have got to figure this out. I, you know, the doctors and helping me. Yeah, it was it was a scary thing. I went home, and I pulled the glucometer out of the drawer and wipe the dust off of it. And I'm like, you're here I go, I'm going to see some bad numbers. And I just started poking my finger. And making adjustments on my own. I was still exercising all the time, extremely competitive in sports. And I just made it a new challenge for myself. I'm going to get good at this. I started ordering magazines and read them all the time and you know, learn some new tricks, eating better. And that's what I just did. And over the years, I just continued to do that. Cuz I wanted to get good at it and be proud of myself for it. Eventually, an MDI, I was consistently in the low sixes. And I've been probably for the last five years, I haven't had an A one C over 5.6.

Scott Benner 41:50
That's amazing. Did you know that that meter was just for pregnancy? The minute you Yeah, the minute you were done having your son you're like, Oh, thank God and put that thing away. Yeah, yeah, I know. Right. back to it again. Do you have any complications? Zero. That's great. Yeah, one that's even insane about how you feel like did you notice yourself feel better eventually? Well, yeah,

Stacie 42:14
that was that was the thing like I had lived so long with high blood sugar's I had no idea how terrible I felt. Until I got those sugars down. And I had so much energy, I couldn't think clearly. You know, I think of like, back in school, when I was in college, I was a good student, but man, it took me a long time to get it. Like, I feel like I could have done so much better in so many things. If I had stable blood sugars in once I was able to get all of that under control. Like I got more motivation for myself, I wanted to take good care of my kids. I saw things just much more clear. And I didn't want to feel crappy anymore. Like I learned, you know, how I felt when I was stable, compared to when those sugars were high. I never wanted to go back there. That's how I am now to like, I have absolutely no desire to eat poorly. I do once in a while, because probably everybody does. And I regret it. And it's just not worth it to hear.

Scott Benner 43:34
I had a couple of cookies over Christmas, and I put a pound on and I had that same thought this morning. I was like, I could have just not had those cookies. Yeah, what's it worth? It? Really doesn't because now I gotta get rid of this pound again. And then I'm like, You know what I'm like, and that's not a thing I was paying attention to until I was paying attention to it. Really? Sure. Yeah. So similar for you. So not really so much about like, I gotta be here for these kids. But more about like, I want to be proud of myself. I want to like, take take over. Is that how you felt? Yeah,

Stacie 44:08
I wanted to have control. I felt like I there were so many things leading up till that I had no control over, you know, thinking about how I was raised and you know, dealing with my parents issues. My whole first marriage was very disappointing. I totally lacked any self control in that relationship. He had total control. Yeah, once I was on my own and I could see all that. I'm like, that's it I need to get control of my life and, and do better for myself and feel better. And I want to excel at this.

Scott Benner 44:52
Yeah. And you used magazines and any information you could find.

Stacie 44:56
Yes, because the internet wasn't really

Scott Benner 44:59
it. Oh, yeah, no, it's so interesting, right? Like the internet's not going to help you, at some point doesn't exist. And I just, it made me feel like 25 years from now someone will be on whatever the equivalent of a podcast is gonna be like, I just wanted to take control when I started listening this thing called the Juicebox. Podcast, like, you know, and it'll sound so old the people like when you just said magazines, people big oh my god, do you remember podcasts? So quaint? They used to come on your phone. Do you remember phones? Before our brains could talk to each other? Yeah, we used to have these phones in our hands. They were such a relic. Maybe? I think there's one in the Smithsonian, if you want to go see it still. Oh, my God, that's crazy. Good for you. And never turned back? Do you have an eating style that you use? Or do you just kind of eat what you want, but in reasonable measure,

Stacie 45:52
I stay away from processed foods. I have a low ish carb diet, like I stay very consistent. So you know, breakfast, it's 15, carbs, lunch, it's 15 to 20, carbs, dinner, I won't go over, you know, 22 to 25 carbs. It's just very consistent. If we go out to eat, we only go out to eat like once a month. And we'll go to the same places where I am comfortable. Knowing what to you know how to dose because I don't like plan that chasing game. Don't want to, you know, eat something and then be chasing the sugars up and down. Yeah.

Scott Benner 46:37
Well, I think it's fantastic that you that you made it through all this and your second marriage went okay, this guy's better.

Stacie 46:43
Oh, gosh, yeah, we've been together over 25 years. And yeah, he's, he's awesome. We have a lot of fun together. We have my kids. Well, my my son has two boys. And so we're grandparents. And my daughter recently got married and she's got a baby on the way. So that's how you girls do it. Apparently. Quick. She's She waited a little

Scott Benner 47:15
longer. Yeah. I was just teasing. Do you to have children together? Or you have the twofold first just to to Okay. Yeah. Yeah, well, also everyone in your life and set the bar so low that this guy could be a pretty big jerk. And you wouldn't even know it.

Stacie 47:34
Oh, no, I had pretty high expectations when I met.

Scott Benner 47:39
You did? I bet you set the bar pretty high. You're like, I'm not doing that again with those people. Oh, yeah. Nice. Your mom to hang on so long to get help for the bipolar?

Stacie 47:52
No, she didn't cut my story with My poor mom is another long rabbit hole. No, she was pretty hard to deal with for for many years. And at one point, I kind of walked away from the relationship because it it just wasn't good. For me. It was very stressful. Sure. Then maybe about eight years later, I, you know, she hadn't seen the kids since they were little. And they were, you know, senior and junior in high school. And I'm like, This is ridiculous. Like, she just loved those kids so much. And she was missing out. And we I've finally slowly developed a relationship with her again. And at that point, I tried to learn how to see things from her point of view and why she was the way she was. She had a terrible upbringing, mental health issues in her family. I just tried to be more understanding even though I didn't believe the way she believed or thought the way she thought. I just became more empathetic and sympathetic with her and she softened up a lot as she got older. And by the end, we had a really good relationship. I'm

Scott Benner 49:19
glad. That's lovely. Yeah, wait for you. It's nice to have you to go back and try again. Honestly. You did it for your kids, or you did it because you thought about how much your mom missed. It's the kids what pushed you? I

Stacie 49:32
felt like my my mom had pushed everybody out of her life. She had no relationships with anybody. She was pretty much homebound. And I was she was missing out on her family and her kids that she adored. I wanted her to see the kids and I was proud of my children and how they grew up and You're not the kind of people they turned into. And I wanted her to see that. That's nice.

Scott Benner 50:05
That's really nice. Oh, wow, you've been through it. Here. Oh,

Stacie 50:10
you have no idea. I didn't even tell you about the whole attraction thing.

Scott Benner 50:14
Wait, that's right. Okay, hold on. Let me let me focus myself. I want to say that when you said you thought your mom might be bipolar, that didn't shock me when you said because you had said mental health concerns then went back to perhaps bipolar. When I asked people about other autoimmune stuff in their life, I usually say How about any, like, bipolar stuff, and really unbalanced amount of people say oh, yeah, my aunt, my mom, my grandmother was bipolar. Like, I think it's all

Stacie 50:48
inflammation somehow. Oh, yeah. Yeah. You

Scott Benner 50:52
know what I mean? Yep. But as everyone's listening, your dad's an alcoholic. Your mom's bipolar. And you sound so like, not those things. And you could wonder why you're listening the whole time. How is that possible? But here's how it's possible. Go ahead.

Stacie 51:09
I was the most stable, emotionally stable person that my entire family. You were adopted. But I was adopted.

Scott Benner 51:18
It was screwy in my head that you were 10. And your sister was 22. And so I thought like late in life baby or something late in life adoption?

Stacie 51:27
No, I was adopted as an infant. My adopted dad had been married before and had two kids. And my adopted mother was younger than my dad didn't have kids, but didn't want to have kids. Like she was scared to death of childbirth. So they wanted to adopt a baby. They're best friends. He was a doctor. And he knew this, you know, this woman was coming in to see him for her pregnancy. And she wanted to give her baby up for adoption. And this doctor said, I've got the perfect family for you.

Scott Benner 52:17
We've got a bipolar lady and a drunken guy. We're gonna slide your kid and it's gonna be fine. Welcome to 1978 A right actually 1960 1968 Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we've got the perfect people. They're upright.

Stacie 52:35
Well, they were sky. I mean, really, they they were like my dad, other than the motional stuff. Like they provided a fantastic home. We get a good family business. The finances were there. They were very involved in the community. I mean, they the issues came a little bit later. Okay. Well,

Scott Benner 53:01
yeah. Also, I guess you'll never really know their whole story, either. You know, without without really sitting and talking to them. I don't know, how you feel like when you stop and look at like, where the zigs and zags come from, like, Oh, I just wanted to be proud of myself. So I took care of my diabetes, where I use the meter, because the doctor like foisted it on me, but they tried to stick me in it like those little stories, those moments that, that reframe things for people, we don't know what they are, you know, it's not until you sit down, you might talk to your mom and find out that she had all kinds of like, problems, you know, growing up, and she might have been lucky to be as together as she was. Yeah, yes. Right. And maybe your father started drinking because your mom was bipolar. And he loved her so much. He didn't know what to do. Like I haven't.

Stacie 53:45
Yeah, you can look at it right there. Yeah, that's definitely what happened.

Scott Benner 53:50
Yeah, I know, trust me. I've had a lot of these conversations. I know what happens. Actually, it's frustrating. Sometimes they see because as I feel like a historian of humanity, on some level, and like, like having had so many conversations with people, you can see the bellwethers. And you can see the detours, and you can see the stuff that derails people and that what brings them back. And as it's happening in real time. I sit there sometimes listening to people talk in my real life. And I think, Oh, don't do that. That's like that story where this lady told me that Bob, like if you just do this, instead, you'll get around that and you'll never have to bow they're gonna do it, though. Yeah, they're gonna do it. And it's just, it's fascinating sometimes. How repetitive people stories are interesting, you know, and I feel like sometimes I can see them and say, like, Oh, if you just don't do that, you'll avoid this whole thing. And I know that's real because 75 people have said this to me in my life, like while I'm interviewing them, and they don't realize they're doing it, because we sit down. It's a little bit of a things they see but we sit down and You're like, oh, it's Scott, the guy who has been talking in my ear for a couple of years. I'll tell him about my car accident where my kid flew into the cornfield, and my mom's bipolar, which are not things she would tell people normally. So we have this kind of relaxed conversation about things that people don't talk about, usually. And, anyway, I might, maybe I'm having feelings of grandeur. But I feel like I've heard enough stories and seen enough of the building blocks of stories, that you can kind of look at a person's life in motion and go, Oh, that's not a thing they should be doing. And I know, because that's going to lead to this, okay. That's why I keep asking people about their stories so that other people can listen to them and eventually go, oh, I should be taking care of myself better. Or, you know, like, maybe it would behoove me to take three days to figure out how fats impacting my meals, you know, how do you talk them into doing things for themselves that, that nobody really either knows to do or cares to spend the time on? I mean, I still every day somebody says to me, I don't have time to listen to that. And what I think is, oh, okay, well, I know exactly what's going to happen to your health. You don't know because you have that human thing where you think it's not going to happen to me, I'm going to be the one that's okay. Right, my dad and your dad did the same thing. Three packs of cigarettes, no big deal. This won't be a problem at all. You know, my dad died of congestive heart failure eventually. And your father had a heart attack and then a stroke, which is directly relatable to the, to the, to the cigarettes, you know, while they're doing it, they're not. They're like, Nah, that's fine. I'm fine. Which is what you were doing with your blood sugar. Like, I'm fine, I'm fine. Until Yeah, it's just anyway, Stacy, I see it. I feel genuinely lucky to be able to have the conversations of pulling things out of people to make them available for other people to hear. So maybe they'll have an aha moment move forward. But you know, still in my own life, it doesn't always help me. So yeah, because

Stacie 57:02
you're, when you're talking with other people, you're listening to their story and helping them and helping other people. But when it comes down to looking at yourself, that's, that's hard to do. Yeah. And who's got the time? Honestly,

Scott Benner 57:18
it's a lot of work it is. So I make a podcast that you listen to it, so that along the way you go, alright, I'll do it. That's pretty much the whole thing. It's my my lot in life, which I don't mean it that way. But it's my responsibility to find an entertaining way to tell people's stories about their diabetes. So people actually listen to it and then end up end up helping themselves. That's pure. Yeah. So anyway, alright, so how did you find out you're adopted?

Stacie 57:46
Well, surprisingly, after hearing a little bit about my parents, they never told me

they expected my after hearing stories over, you know, afterwards, they wanted my brother to tell me now. My brother was is 11 years older, a psychologist, and he's, he's been the one rock and my family loves him. Smart man. Anyway, I can't say more about my brother. But they wanted him to tell me I was adopted because he'd be able to deal with the emotional Fallout, I'm guessing. She's like, that's not my responsibility to tell her. My dad wanted me to know, but my mother absolutely did not want me to know. My guess. It was because she was probably afraid I wouldn't love her. Or it would change the relationship or who knows. So life went on. And nobody told me when I was in college, it was, Oh, I was going into my senior year and I decided I'm not going to go back home for the summer. I'm staying here. I'm going to work. I'm done with going home. And so my sister was helping my friends and I move and they were in the moving truck with her and I was in a in my own car. And she kept saying to my friends, I am so glad Stacy's doing this. She needs to get away from home. She needs to get away from the parents. And my friends were like, yeah, yeah, we know. We know. And she's like, No, you don't understand. She needs to get away. And they're like, we know. And then she's like, No, you don't understand. She's adapted. And they're like, What And then she realized she let the 21 year old secret out of the bag. And she said, You can't tell her. Please don't tell her. She's not supposed to know. So I was really close with these two friends. You know, when you're when you're best friends with people and you live with them, you know when they're acting different. Like what's wrong with you guys? Boy, you're acting weird. Nothing. Nothing's wrong. One night, we went to a party and had some drinks. And I'm like, come on you guys what's going on? We know something about you. And we can't tell you. And like, it just pissed me off. Yeah. Also, how

Scott Benner 20:00:41
do you know something about me? I don't know. That's insane.

Stacie 20:00:45
Yeah, exactly. But we promised we wouldn't tell. I remember getting pissed off and leaving. And then a couple of days later. I'm like, you guys, come on. You're acting weird. You know something about me that I'm not supposed to know. It's terrible. And they're like we we just we promised we can't tell. So well, what if I guess it? Would you tell me if I guessed it? And they looked at each other and said, I guess that wasn't part of the deal. Okay. What

Scott Benner 20:01:17
is wrong with everybody? Stacy? Can I give a piece of advice, everybody listening? Don't keep secrets. It's always worse. Just always, it's never the right thing to do. If you find yourself saying I wonder if she would tell what you should be saying is I should immediately tell this person this thing. Because I it's not my responsibility to like, hold the secret inside. They get to deal with their thing. It doesn't matter if it goes well or doesn't go well. It's their information to have not yours. Like one of my kids recently, where they knew something about a friend's thing that impacted another friend. And they were faced with this opportunity to keep a secret. And I said, Arden What'd she do? She's like I told her right away. And I was like, good for you. Like, she goes, this is my problem, but she deserves to know. And I was like, right. Everyone deserves to know their thing. But now you're playing a goddamn guessing game. Like, it's like, it's like 20 questions. Oh,

Stacie 20:02:19
there were 20 there were only two. Yeah, I said. I said, Well, my dad's sick and he's dying. And they're like, No, that's not it. I said, Okay. I'm adopted. And the look on their faces was priceless.

Scott Benner 20:02:35
Did you always think you worse they see.

Stacie 20:02:39
I always questioned it. Because I was so different than my parents. Like I was extremely athletic and active and love to be outside. I was a tomboy. Like, I played boys baseball and every sport imaginable. And these two people had not an athletic bone in their body. Yeah, I felt like I didn't look like them. But I talked myself into thinking that maybe I looked a little bit like my dad. But I just I just remember, all my years growing up looking in the mirror going. Do I look like I don't get it and then I would just kind of brush it off.

Scott Benner 20:03:25
I never wondered, like we all look similar enough that it wasn't like crazy. You don't I mean, like I wasn't like redheads and thin and they weren't like round and like had dark hair or something like that, you know, but we all look similar enough. But it's funny. I never thought about it deeply. I always knew I was adopted. They told me like right away. But I don't think about when people tell me Oh, you look like your son or your daughter has these features that I don't see that about my own kids. And I wonder if it's something to do with how I grew up? Because they obviously my my children are obviously mine. And my and my wife's like they look like us in ways Arden's faces very unique. So you can you have to pick out features, but my son looks like me. You know, he looks like me and my wife smashed together. Like he just does, but I never think about it that way. And I wonder if it's something I'm not blocking out from being adopted and growing up, to be perfectly

Stacie 20:04:23
honest. So it's funny you say that because I've thought that about my own kids too. Yeah, I mean, people will tell me my daughter and I look so much alike. And I look in the pictures and I'm like, I can see that we're similar in a lot of ways, but I don't know. Yeah,

Scott Benner 20:04:41
we just don't have that like feeling from growing up. Yeah, that we can now like sort of tacked on to for this. i It does seem. It doesn't seem crazy to me at all. So yeah, although my kids are much more athletic than I am, or my wife was and they were retiring. Seems like you've heard me joke on the podcast. I'm like, I must have an incredibly athletic mailman or something like that. But but but at the same time, I wasn't not athletic. I just was not as as they are. So both of the kids are really, so much so and it's funny Arden's gotten so far away from playing softball at this point. She doesn't do stuff like that anymore. That when she meets new people, they were like, when she was a freshman in college, they were all sitting around one night there her roommates talking about like sports, and one of the girls played soccer. And the other girl did this thing and everything and Arden's like, I played softball, and they're like, No, you didn't. And she goes, No, I did. Like I was really good. And she's like, that's not possible. And she's like, she's like, they didn't she called me. She goes, Dad, I'm like issues. I'm here with everybody. And I'm like, Hey, girls, and they're like, Hi. Can you just answer a question for me? And I was like, yeah, she's like, did I play softball? I was like, yes, she goes, was I any good at it? And I was like, oh, Arden was like a fantastic third baseman, she could pitch a little bit, she could play the outfield if she needed to crazy arm like Arden could throw a ball, throw a wall. And the girls were like, what? And so she's so changed in the last couple of years that, like they couldn't even bring themselves to think that about her.

Stacie 20:06:13
Oh, my word.

Scott Benner 20:06:17
Stacy, is there anything that we haven't talked about that we should have? I

Stacie 20:06:20
really can't think of anything, I can say that. You're never too old to learn new tricks. I did eventually go on an insulin pump. I went back to school and got my master's in social work. And during that time, I was in school, I had been ashamed of diabetes my entire life and afraid to share it with people. And while I was working on my master's, I got an epiphany that I was going to do all my research and type one diabetes. And I did all my presentations, and papers and research and type one, just wanting to educate others, and type one. And I became an advocate, and no longer ashamed and got a Dexcom. Because during my research, I met other type ones I'd never known other type ones when I was growing up, had no support system. But while I was working on my Masters, which I didn't start doing until I was 45. And learned all about the Dexcom and met other type ones, it was really another game changer for me, and started listening to your podcast a couple of years ago, I learned how to Pre-Bolus and bump and nudge and do all these little fun tricks that have just made life with diabetes a little more tolerable.

Scott Benner 20:08:02
That's great. It's fantastic. You put a lot of effort in you deserve a ton of credit. And at the same time, I think anybody could do it. You know, you just have to kind of carve out a little bit of time. And, and, and be be purposeful about it, you know, not just say I want to get better at it. But do something, take a step order a magazine, right? Like, you know,

Stacie 20:08:25
little tiny baby steps. Yeah, they don't have to be huge, just one little tiny step at a time.

Scott Benner 20:08:32
Yeah, at your own pace, I actually found myself telling somebody that last night, we put up lists, one of the most frustrating things about doing what I do is that you put this information in the world. And then you realize that three days later, it's as if it's not there, and you have to do it again and again and again, and over and over. And so we were sharing on the Facebook group, this list of lists, basically, it's all of the different collections inside of the podcast. And people came along with like, Oh, I'm so glad you made this. And all I could think was this, we've had this for two years. And then you know, like, it's okay, it's alright, here it is, again, you know, and, and one woman said, I don't think I can listen for more than about a half an hour at a time, I have a pretty short extension span, I said, that's fine, that information is always going to be there for you. You can, you know, at your own pace, just do it at your own pace. Don't feel like you have to sit down and hammer through 10 episodes to magically be better at something just listen as you can. And you'll wake up a year from now and be in a different situation. And that's hard for people to to I think to use as a goal. You know, a year from now, you know, I'm now in December. Having started using we go V for weight loss in March. And you know, on that first injection when you put it in, you're like I'm not thinner. You know, like like it's you have that feeling of like oh, when's it gonna happen? And you know, a half a pound around a week or so, you start to realize it doesn't matter. Like, as long as I'm moving in the right direction. That's really what's important. Because one day I'll look back and think, Oh, I did it. Like I'm gone. Now I moved out of that space. I'm into a different space now. You don't get to see it happen. Yeah.

Stacie 20:10:14
We live in a we live in a world of instant gratification. No, of course. Yeah,

Scott Benner 20:10:21
things happen so quickly now for you that you're just like, well, it didn't work and three days into it, you're like, ah, vitamins don't work. Like, you've only been taking them for three days. Don't feel magically better. That's not how it's gonna be. So I mean, I was taught that patience. Because you start thinking, well, there are 52 weeks in a year, I only want to lose 40 pounds. So a pound a week. Great. And that even leaves 12 weeks there, where if I don't lose weight, it doesn't even matter. Sure. You know, if you think about it that way, then suddenly, you know, it all makes sense. But when you're looking, oh, I have to lose 40 pounds. Why is it not gone already? Like, you know, you can tell people all you want, well, you didn't gain 40 pounds in a day, you're not going to lose 40 pounds in a day. And you didn't get to this situation with diabetes in a day It took years of people not giving you good tools, or you ignoring it, or whatever you ended up doing along the way to get you where you are, it's going to take some time to get out of it too. So yeah, it's all about, it's all about not wanting that gratification today. Like you have to be and by the way, here's how I do it. I keep cactuses. They grow so slowly, that a year after you have one, if it's an inch taller, you're like, Oh my God, look how much this girl that actually taught me patience, like trying to keep a cactus to grow. So you guys should find something that helps you with that. Anyway, Stacy, you were terrific. I really appreciate you doing this with me. I know how long it takes to get on the show and all that stuff. So I know it's a big effort. And it's just a couple days after Christmas. So I appreciate it very

Stacie 20:11:56
much. Well, I appreciate being able to talk to you and it was was great. And

Scott Benner 20:12:03
we can call this one dope pick all

Unknown Speaker 20:12:04
right. Oh, heck yeah. Okay,

Scott Benner 20:12:07
well then that's done. That one was easy.

Stacie 20:12:12
I was curious. I was sitting here thinking I wonder what he's gonna call this Oh,

Scott Benner 20:12:16
it's clearly dill pickle. You know, although Children of the Corn strong No, I thought maybe go children strong second, but it really it's talking about a child flying for cars. So I don't think there's a lot of joy in that all mean that she lived through it is joyful. But even that, like do you think people right now are like thrown out of a car happen all of the time? Oh, my God. Yeah. No idea. You're just so lucky to be alive now. You have no idea just anyway. Right? All right, Stacy. Hold on for me. Okay. Okay.

A huge thank you to one of today's sponsors. Ag one drink ag one.com/juice box. You can start your day the same way I do with a delicious drink of ag one. Jaylen is an incredible example of what so many experience living with diabetes, you show up for yourself and others every day, never letting diabetes define you. And that is what the Medtronic champion community is all about. Each of us is strong and together, we're even stronger. To hear more stories from the Medtronic champion community or to share your own story visit Medtronic diabetes.com/juicebox And look out online for the hashtag Medtronic champion. A huge thanks to Dexcom for supporting the podcast and for sponsoring this episode dexcom.com/juicebox Go get yourself a Dexcom g7 right now using my link. If you are a loved one was just diagnosed with type one diabetes, and you're looking for some fresh perspective. The bold beginning series from the Juicebox Podcast is a terrific place to start. That series is with myself and Jenny Smith. Jenny is a CDC es a registered dietitian and a type one for over 35 years. And in the bowl beginning series Jenny and I are going to answer the questions that most people have after a type one diabetes diagnosis. The series begins at episode 698 In your podcast player, or you can go to juicebox podcast.com. And click on bold beginnings in the menu. If you're not already subscribed or following in your favorite audio app, please take the time now to do that. It really helps the show and get those automatic downloads set up so you never miss an episode. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast. The episode you just heard was professionally edited by wrong way recording. Wrong way recording.com

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