#1550 Reconnecting Canada
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Fierce Mom from Winnipeg: Fights for Coverage, Fights Through Hangups.
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Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends and welcome back to another episode of The Juicebox Podcast.
Ashley 0:15
Hi, my name is Ashley. I am the mom to Anna who's diagnosed with type one at age three. I'm excited to be on the podcast today. If
Scott Benner 0:26
this is your first time listening to the Juicebox Podcast and you'd like to hear more, download Apple podcasts or Spotify, really, any audio app at all, look for the Juicebox Podcast and follow or subscribe. We put out new content every day that you'll enjoy. Want to learn more about your diabetes management. Go to Juicebox podcast.com, up in the menu and look for bold beginnings, the diabetes Pro Tip series and much more. This podcast is full of collections and series of information that will help you to live better with insulin. 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. A huge thanks to my longest sponsor, Omnipod. Check out the Omnipod five now with my link, omnipod.com/juicebox you may be eligible for a free starter kit, a free Omnipod five starter kit at my link, go check it out. Omnipod.com/juicebox Terms and Conditions apply. Full terms and conditions can be found at omnipod.com/juicebox this episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by the Dexcom g7 the same CGM that my daughter wears. Check it out now at dexcom.com/juicebox,
Ashley 1:53
hi. My name is Ashley. I am in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and I am the mom to Anna, who's diagnosed with type one at age three, and also the mom to George. I'm excited to be on the podcast today.
Scott Benner 2:10
Awesome. I'm excited to have you. Anna is how old now? She is eight now, so five years ago? Yes, you bet. And George is older, younger,
Ashley 2:21
younger, younger. He just turned three. No, look at that
Scott Benner 2:24
nice little age. Oh, George wasn't around when Anna was diagnosed.
Ashley 2:29
No, yeah, it was just Anna. Anna was actually the first one in our family, not just our immediate family, but extended family, diagnosed with type one. So was a very big surprise. Any other autoimmune in your family? Well, it was interesting after Anna got diagnosed with type one, a month later, her cousin, second cousin, Mike's cousin's kid, got diagnosed with type one, and then a couple years later, another cousin got diagnosed with type one. So it's it is interesting that something you know, the virus that was circulating around in when she was three, somehow also reacted to her cousin. We didn't actually see her cousin, but, you know, things go around, right? And so something about that this now, in this particular time, I think, in our genetics versus before, where there was no type one, so yeah, but no, no other autoimmune that we know of. Yeah,
Scott Benner 3:23
she's diagnosed than a cousin. How long after, like, one month later, a month later, but not people you see frequently or anything like that. No. And
Ashley 3:33
actually, he was actually living, not in Winnipeg at the time, but in Canada and and then a couple years later, another cousin,
Scott Benner 3:40
so Anna's first, she's three, three, and the cousins how old
Ashley 3:47
he was, like 24 which is interesting.
Scott Benner 3:50
Then the third one, like 10. No, you guys must stay away from each other the holidays. Now,
Ashley 3:56
yeah, no, yeah. It's just it was interesting because then, and of course, the cousin, the younger cousin, that was diagnosed in Manitoba, as soon as we heard they were at the hospital, we're, like, texting them and, you know, helping them out before that. Yeah, there was no one in, like, our aunts, uncles, cousins, no, but nobody with type one. This is like, 2020, 2021, let's see. Let's see, five years ago, yeah. 2020 Yeah. Okay. This is during COVID, is what I'm asking. Well, the diagnoses was before COVID Fully hit, right? Because COVID Hit 20. Oh, sorry, no, this was 2019 That's right, sorry, 2019 because she's turning eight in October or nine in October. So it was before COVID hit and then COVID hit, yeah, pretty early on in her diagnosis, there in 2020
Scott Benner 4:43
did she have anything you can recall, like Coxsackie or another virus? Did she get hit hard with, you know, an illness, anything like that?
Ashley 4:52
She had a really bad case of the croup, like toddlers get that kind of thing, that bad barking cough. So I think it was. That it was quite bad. She had it quite bad, and so much so that I remember, yeah, my dad got really sick, like we all kind of got really sick. That was beginning of July or end of June. And then over the summer, she kind of seemed maybe like a little bit more tight, a little more cranky. And then in the fall, I started to notice, like she was really constipated, that the peeing lots didn't really trigger, because she was like, potty training and a toddler, and you're like, going to the washroom a million times no matter what, so that didn't trigger. And she was in diapers, but then she started getting yeast infections, and that was weird. So I went to the doctor, I was like, This is strange. And they were like, Oh, just put, you know, this cream on. And I was like, Okay. And I was like, constipated. And they're like, oh, you know, eat more fruit. I'm like, she's eating a ton of fruit. But, like, she was not, it was never issue for her. And then we went to the doctor again. And then she had her physical in October, turning turning three. They still didn't pick it up. When I look back now on pictures, I can tell in her face, but technically, she was still, she wasn't gaining weight, but she wasn't losing too much, I guess, for them to catch it. And then one day, she was just like, laying on the couch looking so sick, but no fever. And I was just like, something's wrong. I don't know what it is. I have no idea, but like, I gotta go. I gotta see a different doctor. Because the doctor I'd seen at that point, we had seen three different doctors, her regular one and two other ones, yeah. And I was like, I don't know what's going on. So I took her to this clinic we have that's staffed by emergency ER doctors, but it's kind of like an urgent care. Because I thought, you know, I think they're gonna know at that point, I still didn't know, like, emergency, right? Because it wasn't like, it didn't seem somebody had
Scott Benner 6:43
only told you that your daughter had, your three year old had problems that 45 year old women usually get, yes, yes, have her eat more fruit and
Ashley 6:52
yeah, and use some cream. So as soon as we go in and I say, say those things, those same things, and the doctor looks me in the eye and like, we're gonna do a finger poke. They poke her finger. She's off the charts, like the poker the glucometer won't read her number. So she's like, Okay, we're gonna go to the Children's Hospital. We'll let you know that you're on your way. We'll call ahead. And I was just like, and her face was just very, very serious and calm that like, you need to go now. It'll be okay. So we rushed down and got diagnosed and all that. But yeah, like, I tell actually, like, and then we got a new, new family doctor after that, because I was pretty upset that, you know, we had missed that, and that it had to get so bad of her, like, laying on the couch, lethargic, yeah, to get diagnosed. So I taught and her new doctor. When I told that story, I was like, okay, so start out, I need to tell you the story of, like, her red flags that didn't appear because it wasn't peeing, because she was in diapers. And he said, you know, as soon as you would have said about infection, I would have immediately done a done a blood blood test, like, done finger poke, a 1c like, that's not normal for a toddler. And I was like, exactly,
Scott Benner 8:01
you know, it's funny. You said something that, like everyone says, and it's the first time today that I wondered about it when they say you need to go to the hospital right now. Like, don't go home. Don't do this. Just go home. Like, it makes me think. Like, how many people are told by a physician you have to go to a hospital right now and then they just don't go like, I wonder what that number is. You know what I mean. It's a common thread through everyone's story. Yeah, doctor never, doesn't say, Don't pass go, don't collect $200 just get there. It's interesting. So, yeah, okay, so you have a doctor now you're happy with, you can manage diabetes confidently with the powerfully simple Dexcom g7 dexcom.com/juicebox, the dex Dexcom g7 is the CGM that my daughter is wearing. The g7 is a simple CGM system that delivers real time glucose numbers to your smartphone or smart watch. The g7 is made for all types of diabetes, type one and type two, but also people experiencing gestational diabetes, the Dexcom g7 can help you spend more time in range, which is proven to lower a 1c The more time you spend in range, the better and healthier you feel. And with the Dexcom clarity app, you can track your glucose trends, and the app will also provide you with a projected a 1c in as little as two weeks, if you're looking for clarity around your diabetes, you're looking for Dexcom, dexcom.com/juicebox when you use my link, you're supporting the podcast, dexcom.com/juicebox head over there. Now. This episode is brought to you by Omnipod. Would you ever buy a car without test driving it first. That's a big risk to take on a pretty large investment. You wouldn't do that, right? So why would you do it when it comes to choosing an insulin pump, most pumps come with a four year lock in period through the DME channel, and you don't even get to try it first. But not Omnipod five. Omnipod five is available exclusively. Through the pharmacy, which means it doesn't come with a typical four year DME lock in period. Plus you can get started with a free 30 day trial to be sure it's the right choice for you or your family, my daughter has been wearing an Omnipod every day for 17 years. Are you ready to give Omnipod five a try? Request your free Starter Kit today at my link, omnipod.com/juicebox Terms and Conditions apply. Eligibility may vary. Full terms and conditions can be found at omnipod.com/juicebox find my link in the show notes of this podcast player, or at Juicebox podcast.com
Ashley 10:37
Yes, yes. Her doctor right now is, is excellent and, and when I told that story, he was like, yeah. And he and he said he had actually recently diagnosed someone with type one just from their intro appointment over the phone, based on things they said. And they were like, you know, I think you need to get a blood test right away. And I was like, Oh, that's so good. Like, so but I think there is a problem, and I'm still hearing stories of folks that it has to get so bad before you're diagnosed that, like every primary care physician and walk in doctor needs to, like, it doesn't hurt to do a finger poke. And if it's not, then it's not but, yeah, little kids like sometimes have to get so bad before diagnosing. I don't know. I think there still is a lack of awareness among some doctors. Yeah,
Scott Benner 11:22
I hear you. I also wonder, like, if the symptoms aren't enough to trigger in their head, hey, this could be diabetes, then I wonder, is it also unreasonable to expect that the symptoms would be enough for them to trigger the idea of like, finger poke like, what if the like, if finger poke was like, you know, you hear this, this and this, you definitely do a finger poke. Like, how come, if you do this, this and this, you don't wonder diabetes, like, how do you get them to have that moment when they hear that that information? Or,
Ashley 11:49
I mean, the other way to go. And then what I've thought of, actually, is just at the yearly checkup, when you're doing already your shots, they're already crying. You could just do a poke. Like that would cost pennies to do a poke. They're already crying. You know, it's not fun. That would have caught my daughter three weeks before she was in DK, because she saw her physical appointment three weeks like she turned three, three weeks before diagnoses. So if they had poked her finger, just as like a normal routine thing that would have, I mean, she still was probably in DK, but it wouldn't have been as bad, because the last week before diagnosis is when I got really bad. I
Scott Benner 12:26
have to tell you when my when my mom was in the hospital and they just stuck her finger, it cost $100 every time they did it. So I don't know if it's gonna be that's how they charge for it. That's the test strip and the now, the nurse that I sort of got Yeah, it was Yeah, every time they checked her budget, it was $100 Wow. We have a different system than you do. Okay,
Ashley 12:42
well, in our system, I don't know, like, the cost to our taxpayer system when you get a shot is $7 so I think a finger poke would be less than that. Nice. There's no vaccine in Canada.
Scott Benner 12:51
I'm sure it would be. I was just saying here, here, it wouldn't be as cheap as you think. Because people say all the time, like, how come they don't just do this? Like at every doctor's appointment and blah, blah, because the insurance probably won't let them, even if the you know, the physicians wanted to do it, I don't imagine they'd be able to get it through the insurance, is my point. So, right, yeah, anyway, so, okay, so this all happens is obviously out of the blue for you, and she's very little. You guys go to the hospital. How long you there? Like, what's the first week's like, you
Ashley 13:19
know, we just, actually just had to stay the one night because their first day of training, we were so good, I guess we, like they thought we were okay enough to go home the second night. Or, I guess she wasn't so bad. So, yeah, we had training all that week, so it was like Monday. So was when it happened, when took her in, and then Training Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, actually, there's three days of training. And then Friday was Halloween, poor kid, but she was still pretty sick, so she handed out candy, and I don't know we dosed her something, but she was still kind of pretty tired and little so didn't really, really know the situation. But yeah, so we had the training and that that went pretty good. And the big, the big thing that was, like, a huge game changer for us, was getting an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor, which, at the time, we did have a program for kids only in Manitoba, but we didn't have CGM coverage, but we have private insurance, but that didn't cover CGM because it wasn't under it's called the public umbrella of PharmaCare, which public drugs are covered not it wasn't yet to Manitoba, so, but we kind of, like, researched it. I listened to the Juicebox Podcast. I was like, listening to all this. I was like, Okay, we got to get a CGM. This is really scary. We don't know what she is, and we need to get a pump, you know, as soon as possible. So talked to them and tried the libre first, and then we switched to the Dexcom, and just loved it. And it was a huge game changer for our control and nighttime. And when you
Scott Benner 14:54
say it's not covered, the it was covered. It's covered for children, but not for adults. At that time, I know this is five years ago. But yeah,
Ashley 15:01
yeah, it has, it has changed at the time, insulin pumps recovered for 18 and under CGM were not at all for any age at that time. So we paid out of pocket. Are you to pay for it yourself, right? Yeah, which we were able to. But then seeing like the difference in that, I, along with Trevor and Ken and Liz, a group of us. We decided during COVID times that it was like December 2020, like this isn't right. Like we need to change the coverage here in Manitoba, especially during COVID times when there's, you know, pandemic and dangerous health situations and more people are getting diagnosed, we need to have coverage. So we started a large campaign, and I'm super excited to say just recently, as of today, April 15, we now in Manitoba, have one another pillar of our campaign, which is free insulin. Now for anyone with type one or type two that uses insulin, free insulin in Manitoba, no deductible. How'd you get that done as of today, well? And we have other stuff too. We have all ages, insulin pumps for everyone and CGM for everyone we but the third pillar. We had four pillars back in 2020, and the third pillar, insulin came true today. And the last pillar is insulin support in school. So we, like, kind of we drafted, like this manifesto, almost of these four things that we wanted. Let's not call
Scott Benner 16:25
it a manifesto, okay, okay, yeah, you take that out. No, no. It's funny. That's fine. Trevor's been on the podcast, right? Yes, yeah. Like years ago, yes. And then at that time, it was about access to CGM, yes, I see. How do you all know each other?
Ashley 16:44
So we met. We there. We have this Facebook Facebook group, Manitoba families for type one. Any Manitobans listening? Not on the Facebook group. You should come join our Facebook group. I would love it
Scott Benner 16:54
if you would have said you met because you're penguin farmers, but it's fine that you said it like that. What's the Facebook group called again, I'm sorry. Uh oh, she's gone. This is it, Ashley. Ashley, you're back. What happened? You okay? I'm okay, sorry. I just hit, hit a button by accident. Oh, I thought you got mad about the penguin joke. Sorry. No.
Ashley 17:15
Penguin joke was funny. Penguins in southern Manitoba, though, or polar bears. Polar bears. Polar bears are in northern Manitoba, which is quite far away from us. Can
Scott Benner 17:24
I tell you a secret? There's no penguins in Canada at all? Well, that's true, not where they live, but I just some zoos. But, yeah, look at you being very specific. All right. Well, fine. Then penguins live everywhere, where there are zoos I'm saying, I guess. Where do they come from? I don't want to say right now, because I don't want to show off that I know. So you guys all meet each other. Your was very telling. You're like, you don't know where penguins come from, idiot. So you guys all find each other on a Facebook group, and you realize, or I guess, you're talking, and you're like, Wow, this is crazy that we can't get CGM for the kids or something like that. How does that go from like, a bunch of people online just complaining to each other or wishing out loud into actual action. Like, how does that happen? Yeah,
Ashley 18:06
it's a good it's a good question. Like, people were kind of like saying, like, there were certain threads that kept coming up all the time, and it was no glucose monitor coverage, private, private or public. No insulin pumps for over 18, no insulin support in schools, and the cost of insulin so like that. Kind of those threads would come up, and Trevor and I were chatting because Anna was diagnosed, and he was someone that would help folks kind of in the group. And now I've kind of become that person too. Like, if someone's asking a question, they'll like private message and say, Hey, do you want some help? You wanted some information? And I was chatting with him about CGM and pumps different things, and saying, Yeah, I want to go down a pump and all that. And then it just kind of morphed into, like, oh man, like, there's no coverage. And, you know, our family, like, I'm a teacher. And, well, actually, that's, that's, that's, that's not a guarantee that you make a decent salary. I know in the States, it's a lot harder, but in Canada, actually, we do make a decent salary here. And so I said, you know, we can pay out of pocket, but even us like this should be covered under insurance, like if for everybody, because it's going to save money to avoid emergency rooms, like short term and long term. It'll save the system money, right? So
Scott Benner 19:21
actually, tell me, too, it's one of those situations where in different provinces, there's different rules. So you live where you live, and it's not covered at the time, but it's very possible somebody else lived somewhere else and it was covered,
Ashley 19:33
yeah. So some provinces at that time did a lot, didn't still at that time, so it's kind of been and there were organizations like larger organizations like diabetes, candidate JDRF, now breakthrough type one, like working on some of that, but during COVID, things like really shut down for advocacy, because there weren't those lobby days and there weren't meetings with politicians. And so we kind of saw an opportunity. Community as a grassroots group to really make some inroads with policy, just trying to, like, we had time on our hands, like, I like we kind of, you know, you can't do anything, you can't see friends, and so we're like, let's take this on. And we and we talked, we talked to someone at JDRF, and we had that, and Trevor came up. Well, actually, it was my mom that I need to give a shout out to my mom, Ruth, who came up with idea for the finger prick challenge. She's like, you know, maybe if you can get the politicians to prick their finger and see how hard it is and how ineffective it would be, maybe, you know, that might get them to really change their mind at flash, get media attention, and so. And then Trevor was like, Yeah, that sounds awesome. And Liz and, and then we kind of figured it out, and so we gave these kits to the politicians and and they did that, and we got tons of media. And then we had these like demonstrations at the ledge during COVID time. So it's all like, you could have maybe 10 people at some times, or 15 people spaced apart with masks outside. And there wasn't much going on, right for lobbying, like none of the big organizations, not diabetes, just anybody. Nobody was like lobbying at the ledge, having rallies and stuff. And so we would call ahead and be like, Okay, so what's the limit? And it'd be like, 10 people spaced apart 20, whatever it was at the time. And so we did one was like antiques roadshow, where we had different antiques showing that finger poking was antique. And so kind, you know, it's kind of like visuals. And we had one time we did an amazing race. We had the politicians go through different rate, you know, events. And everyone was like, game to do it, because there, like, were no events going.
Scott Benner 21:44
They were bored too.
Ashley 21:46
Yeah. So they were like, we had the Leader of Opposition. We had, like, tons of elected leaders come out and chat with us and see all that. And then did lots of virtual meetings. The big thing getting folks attention was people in the it's called a constituency, but, like, where you live, their elected representative, having people from there ask for a meeting. So we targeted, like, all the different areas, put a lot of pressure, like, with the opposition to pressure, just like media, there was a lot of lot of layers, trying to educate why it was important, why we needed to have it during a time. At the time, we had a government that was like an austerity government, the conservative it should be like the republican party down there that was not adding anything to the budget. But we had such a concerted push for the opposition and working with government that we got it like the first one was 25 and under for CGM and pump. That was the first kind of benchmark, which was four years ago, and then I think it was two years ago, then we got the all ages for pump and CGM. So we kind of pushed, pushed, pushed, and it was a huge, huge thing. No one was getting anything at that time, like nobody, no group was coming away with a win at the time, and it's awesome because, yeah, so it was super, super good and and huge. And now, like, I just, I'm so heartwarmed, like I heard a few weeks ago from a senior that was 65 and recently diagnosed with type one, and she had no idea about the campaign, and because she just got diagnosed, and she's like, she has an insulin pump now, and she's like, I'm fixed.
Scott Benner 23:24
She's gone again. You're gone. You're not there. You're talking to yourself. Muted. Hello. 65 year old just diagnosed. Oh, she's gone, gone. She hung up on herself. It's awesome. I should leave this in, Rob. We might leave this in, depends on how fast she comes back the austerity party. There's no way most of us understood what she was saying. There. Also, where's the ledge like? Is that like the train station on Yellowstone, where they throw the dead bodies. What do you think that is? I should ask about that. Ashley, uh oh, a polar bear got her. Yeah, she's dead. That's a shame. It's so cold up there. Probably the cold. Then she fell over. Immediately the penguins drug her outside, where the polar bears ripped her apart, limb from limb, which is a shame, because look at all the people she helped with CGM, with CGM and other stuff like that. But now a senseless death out in the wilderness. It's not fair. When you're breaching new lands and you're spreading humanity across the tundra of Canada, this stuff happens. It's not polite, but Nature never is. You understand what I'm saying? My god, she's really been gone for a while. I can't keep talking like that. She really could be dead. This would be such a shame. Can I call this one polar bear attack? Imagine if she never comes back and there's no updates. What if she left her family in the middle of this? She's like, this is a great opportunity for me to just get out of here. Yeah. Oh, she's back. Hold on a
Ashley 25:02
second, Ashley. I'm so sorry. I like, I like, kept talking, and I guess I hung up on you. You hung up on me a while ago. I'm so sorry. I kept talking for a long time. Where did I leave off? First, I'll
Scott Benner 25:12
tell you where you left off. But don't worry, because I filled the time nicely with a tale of you trying to conquer the tundra of Canada, but eventually the cold got to you and you were killed. Sadly, of course, because nature is unforgiving. Then the penguins drug you outside, where the polar bears ripped you apart, limb from limb, which we spent some time going over how sad that was, because you helped all those people with the CGMS and everything else. So that's what we did while you were it's like a children's story that you wouldn't read to children. You were talking about the 65 year old lady who was diagnosed, didn't know about anything, and now you found out she has a CGM, which I'm assuming made you feel like, wow, look at all the work we did. This lady's benefiting years down the road, yeah,
Ashley 25:49
CGM and a pump with no waiting periods. So the pumps, the other big thing was they used to have to jump through hoops. That was one of our demonstrations, too. All the hoops you have to jump through to get an insulin pump before the kid program, you had to have it at least a year. You had to have it a 1c under 10. You had to have all this stuff. So now there's no criteria. It's just type one you want to get a pump and, you know, you talk to your doctor about it and all
Scott Benner 26:12
that. So like, do you think you actually talked them into understanding why this was necessary? Or do you think you bugged them to the point where they were like, Why don't we just give them this so they stopped coming
Ashley 26:20
here? We did work a lot of education on it. And then, I mean, on their side, they would have, you know, pulled up research and stuff. And we had some research too, that we that we showed, but like they would have done, like on the civil service side, their own, you know, research, but part of it was education. Like our, one of our big things that I would like recommend to people at in any any country, if they have a committee meeting of their session, something on health care, we kind of, we loaded up a speakers list of like 12 speakers. So committees is like talking about a law that's going to pass. Now, the law wasn't about CGM and pump, it was about something else. But they were nice enough to just, you know, let us talk about what we were talking about under the umbrella of healthcare, yeah. And in that, we were able to, like, educate the committee members, which included folks that were, you know, on the financial kind of team of the government and the opposition people. We were able to do a lot of education. So that was really good. And we just met with so many people and just over and over. And
Scott Benner 27:21
it was your finding that, like, once they understood the situation, they were like, oh, yeah, we don't do that. That's crazy. We should do that. It wasn't being kept from you as much as it was that nobody knew that you wanted it. Is that fair?
Ashley 27:34
I think so, and that they didn't realize how important it was. And I think type one like folks and parents are often, they have lots on their plate, and it's hard to advocate. And we do have organizations that do that, but it's not like the grassroots people saying, like, you know, like, we've avoided going to the hospital because it will alarm a severe low and like, they can tell those stories which are really impactful. And then people are like, Oh, wow. Like this tech, you know, and with a pump that it can work together with the CGM, and, like, all the good things that come from that, you know, kids can do better at school, like they can be in a range for learning, and, yeah, and so all of that. And so it all kind of fits together. And then that led to our, like, latest campaign, which we have not achieved yet. We are right in the midst of it, though, like we now have a committee of Health and Education meeting together, and I really, really hope that by the time this is aired, that we have insulin support in schools, for daycare and young children, like for little kids that can't self administer. Right now, we don't, so a lot of folks, even though we have free pumps, can't get one because you can't, you don't have any help at schools or daycares for little kids. It
Scott Benner 28:44
took me a long time of interviewing Canadians to realize that, why is there so much regular and mph being used in Canada? It's because there's no nurses at the schools. That's right, yeah, of all the odd decisions, because there are plenty of schools here that there aren't nurses at and people still, they find a way to handle it right. Like, you know, there, there's schools in America where the secretary helps you with your insulin, or, you know, like, whatever, somebody in the you know, a delegate or an advocate in the school who's willing to help, you know, makes it known to the school, like, I'll help the kids with the stuff, and then, you know, you get somebody to do it. But what a strange, backwards way of doing something. Do you know what I mean, like, seriously, you're using insulin, that is, I mean, generally speaking, not used anymore. I mean, unless you're maybe really low carb, and you're, you know, you're using it for background. But, like, there's so many insulins that have been invented since then that work, you know? I mean, arguably, much, much better. And yet, in Canada, they're just like, Oh no, it's 2025 here's regular and mph for your, you know, your newly diagnosed five year old, because, you know, some of the months of the year while your kid's at school, like, who's going to give them the insulin? Is that not frustrating? Once you realize that's why it's happening, yes,
Ashley 29:56
yeah, it's extremely frustrating. And I was able, like, if I was a five. Minute drive from her daycare when she was little, and her school isn't too bad, eight minutes. So I was able to drive and then, so as I'm driving and doing like the lunchtime hustle, you run over, run back, I'm in a position that I'm not a classroom teacher. I'm in resource counseling. So I have the flexibility. My employer is flexible. But I'm like, This is not fair, that this isn't not fair, that we have to use
Scott Benner 30:22
50 year old equity. Like, yeah, it's just a strange thing. It would be like, if I don't know what it would be like, it would be like, if somebody told you, like, Oh, you're not feeling well, well, we're gonna put some leeches on you. You're like, why can't we do the testing? Like, oh, there's no nurses at the testing center. Like, could you put some there? Like, why are we still reaching back to like, such an old idea. It just smells of, of exactly what you talked about. It's just that nobody was looking at it, so it just, it's like, well, this is how we do it, so we just keep doing it this way. Oddly enough, it's not some big organization that gets through to people. It's a handful of people who met online. Like, really awesome. You know, it just really, it's a great story,
Ashley 30:59
yeah, and, and the organizations like their focus, you know, they haven't really taken on insulin support in schools until recently. I would say diabetes Canada. I'll give a shout out to Joan Jean, if she's listening, the advocacy director that
Scott Benner 31:17
she's gone this is my favorite part of the show so far. I mean, she's awesome, but the part where she hangs up on herself, because, like, you imagine right now, she's talking about Joan from diabetes Canada, and all the hard work she put in there to it, everything and and it's such an interesting so let me go over it. First they got the CGMS for the kids, and then, you know, they got that expanded to older and older people, CGM and pumps, if you if your doctor says you deserve it, there's no arguing. You just get it. Then they got I mean, we haven't even gotten to the free insulin thing. Like, I'm trying to figure out what that's about now. She's trying to make sure there's support in the schools so the kids can use their insulin pumps at schools. There's really wonderful work being done, and in a short time too. Like, I mean, five years to get all this accomplished is pretty astonishing. Actually. Do you think she's still right now talking to herself? She could be. I feel bad about that. I want to say and when you're listening back, Ashley, because we absolutely are keeping this in I do feel badly right now. Here she is. Here we go.
Ashley 32:14
I'm so sorry. I think I'm like, my cheek is hitting it. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. You
Scott Benner 32:18
shouldn't apologize. I have the greatest little I actually just did a whole recap of everything you guys have done so far, waiting to come back. Tell me a little bit about that good. Keep going. So
Ashley 32:27
the influence support in schools right now. Some provinces, which are like states, do offer it, like with support staff trained by nurses, and one province does have nurses, but then they have a shortage of nurses, which creates a problem. So we're looking at the model of support staff trained by nurses here, and now we're in kind of the committee with health and education. We just had a meeting. But it is tricky, because the easier thing is to just leave it the same, like, that's easier because schools are like, Oh, insulin. They're scared of it, or whatever,
Scott Benner 33:00
I mean, whatever. They don't want to do it. But go ahead, they don't want to
Ashley 33:03
do it, yeah, but we have CGM now, and so it kind of had to all be in order, like we had to get CGM coverage so everyone can have a CGM. So if you're like, you know, on social assistance, you don't make any money right now, you get CGM. And if you're low income, you're going to meet your deductible, your public deductible with your insulin and, well, I guess, not insulin anymore, but your other other supplies. So the point is, like all the little kiddos have CGM Now, one way or another, right? And so now we have that safety net in place that people aren't finger poking. So the risk, you know, with the with the pumps, you can set the max Bolus, you know, really low to, you know, you can set that low TO KEEP IT folks safe so, and there's lots of, you know, you can do a double check. There's lots of things you can do to keep everyone safe. But the risk of having kids on outdated insulin and not having the with with looping automated insulin devices like we can't that risk is higher than having having the pumps now, and we all, we all know that, but I think it's just kind of trickling down now, yeah, yeah. I don't understand
Scott Benner 34:09
how people's minds work. Like, well, like you're saying, Hey, we're treating these children as if it was 50 years ago, maybe longer, very detrimental to their health and their happiness and their day to day living and etc and so on. And by the way, here's a bunch of examples of people who grew up 50 years ago, and you know, some of the complications they have now, like, so and they go, Well, what if someone miscounts the insulin? Like, wow, that's the LEAP you made. Like, awesome. Like, just way to miss the forest for the trees or the ice for the snow. Yeah. I mean, earlier, you just kind of blase. We Hey, insulin is free. Now, like, how did that happen?
Ashley 34:43
So that one actually was a huge or systemic one. That one, I can't our committee wasn't responsible for that one, but we did put it forward. So which is awesome. So the whole federal government, the like, you know, you would have, you know, your president, your congress, Senate. So our. Federal Government made a deal now with Manitoba for it's called PharmaCare with no deductible. So for contraception and diabetes medication and for diabetes, so far, they're including insulin, the squamous, the nasal, glucagon and type two, Metformin, type stuff. So they will all be free as of today, with no deductible, which is amazing. And I think, I mean, why did they pick diabetes medication and contraception? Like it's kind of interesting to two things to start. But for sure, for diabetes, I think the campaigns of the national campaigns around the importance of diabetes medication in our system and all that. And we were hoping to see pump supplies and CGM in that, like, free, with no deductible. And we're not sure where that's going to end up, because there was talk about that, and then when we actually saw the document, it wasn't in there. So we'll see, like, it can be built on, though, right? It's a stepping stone. Like, that's a big deal. It's a step. It's a big deal. It's a huge stepping stone. We do have an election going on right now, though, at the end of month of April, we might have a different government. And they have said, like, so our current federal government is the liberals, which would be more like your Democrats, and the conservative the conservatives, when they had said they were going to get rid of PharmaCare, like get rid of this drug program, because it's not in their philosophy. But there has been a lot of pressure on them, so we'll see what they actually do. I mean, hopefully the pressure is enough that even if they won, they wouldn't get rid of it, but they want to do more tax cuts, right? This
Scott Benner 36:36
could just flip right back again. It could.
Ashley 36:38
It's at the whim of government, but saying that when something becomes so entrenched, like, it's free and kind of go to the doctor, it's free to go to the hospital, even a Conservative government, that's pretty hard to take that away. Take it away, yeah, you know, like, if once it becomes very entrenched, and that people wouldn't, you know, be, you know, if you're not going to get elected because of that, then they wouldn't take it away. So it just, yeah, I would imagine
Scott Benner 37:03
you're pander to your base while you're running, like, hey, we'll get rid of that pharma thing. Don't you worry. Put us back in charge, and we'll get rid of that for you. Then you get there and you go, Oh, we forgot to do that. And then just, it's probably good politics while you're running for office, not good politics once you're in office. I would imagine exactly,
Ashley 37:18
so hopefully. And I mean, then that's up to the organizations and the grassroots people to say, like, don't, you know, get rid of this. This is really good. But the tricky thing is, like, it only is starting today in the elections at the end of the month, right? So that is tricky. Are
Scott Benner 37:32
you recording today just by happenstance, and it's starting today? Yeah, yeah. I actually
Ashley 37:36
didn't even know like that when they had said it would be start in June. And then we just found out. I just found out yesterday, actually, I was reading the like bulletins from the government, because I like stuff like that, and and then I was like, April 15, okay, that today.
Scott Benner 37:54
That's awesome. You're like, a little dork, Ashley. You love stuff like that. Is that what you're saying? I
Ashley 37:58
love politics and the news and all of this, which is probably why I enjoyed doing the campaign so much. And, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I love, I love all this stuff. So it's, yeah, it's important to kind of keep informed of what's going on. But I do find it frustrating sometimes when folks, like, don't, didn't want to help out. But I do understand, like, type one folks and type parents with kids always have so much on their plate that it is hard to kind of take up extra Well,
Scott Benner 38:25
listen, it's a good example of, like, you know, politics is it follows the whims of the people who are paying attention to it. So you pushed. You got what you wanted. If somebody else would have stepped up with the thing they cared about, they might have their thing. Now, you know, yeah, for sure. Speak up. I think so, yeah, for sure. It's awesome. So how is your daughter doing? Like, now she's got her pump and she's got her CGM, and it's five years later, like, how is How's her diabetes going? Good?
Ashley 38:47
Yeah, she's, she's a true bird. She She's super active. She isn't involved in tons of stuff. She's in dance and Girl Guides and and she loves going upside down on the monkey bars. And, like, she's very, very active child, and swimming, she's able to, like, swim her laps, go on the deep end. And, yeah, she's always been super active, and that's what's been great about the Omnipod. And the tubeless has been so, so good for that, and the Dexcom. So I can't say enough about how great her pump and CGM has been for her management, and also just for her to be be a kid
Scott Benner 39:24
and just be able you have to go to school every day to give her insulin. So
Ashley 39:28
I was, yeah, well, we would split it up with our family. So there was different helper people, grandparents, someone from the team was going every day. Now that she's eight, like she can, you know, we can FaceTime her with her food. We're lucky that, like, She's old enough to do that now, so, but we were, we're up until last year, for sure. Every day, yeah, someone from the team, we
Scott Benner 39:53
got to a point where you said, like, she can do this. Like, if we're talking to her, she can push the buttons make this work. And,
Ashley 39:58
yeah, for sure. And the in the maturity level, it depends on the kid. You know, there's no set age. And then, you know, I have a friend that her kid has Down syndrome, and so, you know, then it's not an age, it's that, right? So we definitely need to have folks at the school trained to support kiddos.
Scott Benner 40:13
I mean, isn't it odd, seriously, that you can't just like that? It's that hard to get something set up, but somebody just can't agree. Like hell, I could text you at lunchtime and push these buttons for me and that the person in the room couldn't handle it. I know nobody wants but is liability really the reason there? Like, because here, I think it's liability. Nobody wants to be liable for anything. But is it the same in Canada? Yeah, I think,
Ashley 40:35
like, it's just been left out. Like, because we do right now, kids get medication from schools if the doctor signs off on other medication, including, you know, seizure medication, feeding tubes, you know, like there is lots of medication. Well, not lots. You know, medication is being delivered in schools already with the training of the nurse. Just, you know, insulin has always been left out of it, and I think it just hasn't been explained or advocated to the Department of Health like that. That's not right for kids. Yeah, yeah. So, like, it's interesting.
Scott Benner 41:07
I mean, you just mentioned feeding tubes. So like, feeding tubes, other medication, oral medication, blah, blah. There's all these different things. And then you come up and you're like, Well, can you push this button so they can have the medication going, Oh, no, that's not possible. And does anybody then asked, why? Like, what makes this different than that? Did you ever get any feeling for what the reasoning is? You just feel like, because you keep saying, like, Well, they didn't know. But like, how much do you really need to know you're giving that kid it's meds, and this kid is meds, and that kid are meds, and my kid can't have their meds. Because why? I don't see any common sense at all? Do you?
Ashley 41:41
Yeah? No, I agree. I totally agree. I think it was risk averse. And the school, like the Department of Health, is who does the guidelines with schools. And so there is maybe some hesitancy there, but there is risk already. Like, anytime you have a type one kid at school, there's risk. And if they're on mph, there's a large risk that they're gonna go low, because, you know, it's unpredictable insulin, and if they don't quite eat their exact carbs, they can shoot low, and greater risk of them running high all day. And yeah, I've had parents say, like, the schools are saying, like, oh man. Like, your kid's acting out and not able to learn, and I think it's because they're high like, the some of the schools have, like, figured it out, yeah. Like, they're like, this is a problem. And also, what happens? A lot of times, people will put kids in schools near where they work, so then they can't be with their neighborhood kids, like, I have a friend, their kid goes to school like, half an hour away from where they live, because that's where their parent works. You know, there's all these arrangements happening that the it's just wild that people are having to change their lives. You know, work different hours, work part time, just to like, so their kid can have proper health care. It doesn't make sense. Yeah, I think the next
Scott Benner 42:57
time your Facebook group gets together and decides to fix something, you might want to teach people how to do crazy. Critical thinking. It might be awesome. I think that might fix a lot more problems. It's just very interesting. It's such a simple idea, and to watch it, like, watch somebody in there just go, Oh, I can't do that. Like, you know what I mean? Like, I can't push the button. I don't want to be involved. Or, like, I don't know enough about it. Like, you what you know about a feeding tube? Somebody taught you that too. You don't mean, like, I don't know, also, like, if you want to be an educator, you're a teacher, right? Yeah, if you want to be an educator, like, doesn't that come along with the fact that some kids have things they need during the day? Like, how do you just go, oh, no, sorry. We don't want to be involved. It's a weird thing to say. You don't. It's like, it's like, if I said to you, like, I you have a farm and horses on it, you Yeah? But we don't pick the poop up. I don't want to be involved in that part of it. Like, that's too bad, you know, I'm saying, Am I making sense? Ashley, yeah, okay, yeah,
Ashley 43:48
no. For sure. For sure. Like being in schools, 100% we learn about all kinds of kids with different medical needs, special needs, you know, we work. We learn all the time about, you know, how we can support kiddos. Yeah,
Scott Benner 43:59
is there anything else being ignored besides diabetes? Well, diabetes is
Ashley 44:04
the only healthcare thing that parents are responsible for in Manitoba. It's awesome. No other, no other need. You know, asthma, like seizures, you could put seizure, you know, medication in someone's cheek. You know that's that's
Scott Benner 44:18
all, okay, insulin, no, sorry. Can't be involved. I love how you're so Canadian. By the way, you're so like, there's things you're mad about. You just, you just pause when you get mad. Do you know that about yourself? It's awesome. Like, anytime you're like, I could go off on this. You just go, Hmm, it's very nice of you, very Canadian. I think. Have you apologized to anybody yet? Today, it's early, still I did
Ashley 44:42
to you. I said I'm so sorry that I hung up on you. I am sorry. Could
Scott Benner 44:46
you say more like sorry when you say it? Please next time, thank you. Appreciate it. You're coming on the podcast today just to tell us about, like, all the things you guys have gotten accomplished and the things that are still on your plate. You know, get. And coverage at school. Once you get to coverage at school, you just hang them up. Like, are you done? The boxing gloves, go over the mirror and you're finished. Or, like, you guys have other things you're thinking about. Well
Ashley 45:08
then we'll go like, we got free insulin. We want to go free, like, pump supplies and continuous glucose monitors. It should all be free for for folks of all ages. So that would be the next, the next thing, but we the benchmark of free insulin there. The next one should be easier, but in coming on and talking about all this like it is, like a rah, rah. But I also want to just kind of let folks know, talk to your representatives, like, whether that's US, Canada, another country in the world, and like, you can make a difference even, like a small group of people, and then getting other folks to join in, like, really having a concerted effort, can make a difference that people, if you keep going, keep going, like, we've made actually really huge change in a short amount of time, relatively like, everybody wants it right away. But if you keep chipping away at it, we can get better, better coverage, better healthcare for folks with diabetes, and I think it's a population that high needs. But if we keep everyone healthy now, like, our future is bright, and so it would be amazing if we get better and better care for folks, yeah,
Scott Benner 46:13
unless you live one of those countries where they disappear, you from making noise, and then I would keep quiet. Okay, well, that's true, but I'm hearing what you're saying. Like, you gotta, you gotta get involved. Like, it's very quiet frustration, and it's not, I wouldn't call it big, but I've heard frustration from you a couple of times. Like, you're like, I don't know. You apologize for them. You say, I know people whose kids have diabetes are busy, but what I'm hearing is, but we need more people to be involved in this if you really want to get something accomplished. Is that really the rest of that sentence? Yeah, I
Ashley 46:39
think so. And I think, like, just there are folks, probably, I know in Canada there's different groups, different online groups and things, and there are people mobilizing for variety of things, for type one folks. And I think, like, the school issue in Canada is still a huge thing. We have three provinces that have support, but seven that don't so I would really encourage folks to, like, work together and and try to mobilize in the provinces for that, just with the technology and getting better and better. Now, Omnipod five has been approved by Health Canada. Yeah, I saw which is amazing. So we got that loop pump, and then we have, of course, the DIY loop and Medtronic in tandem. It's
Scott Benner 47:21
a big deal for people don't know the history of Canada. You guys are generally years behind everybody else getting stuff like that, just having it available, let alone anybody paying for it or being covered. Oh, she hung up on herself again. That's awesome. Do you think she's still talking? Let's not wonder about that again. What was that going to bring up to her just now? Oh, I remember. I'll hold that thought. Will she apologize as soon as she comes back? On lay your bets. The longer I feel like the longer she doesn't realize she's talking without me here, the bigger the story is when she comes back. I'm gonna take this opportunity to put just a tiny bit of Vaseline on my lip, which I do while I'm talking, so that my lips don't smile together. There professional secret. Is it weird that there's a giant tub of Vaseline on the desk? Sure. Hey Ashley, welcome back. I
Ashley 48:11
guess, I guess we're probably done. Why
Scott Benner 48:13
do you feel like you're done? It's awesome. I know I was just
Ashley 48:16
gonna say, I think I got cut off. Just the looping pumps are so amazing. The tech and and little kids can benefit from those so much, you know, the really small insulin doses and and not having to have needles, and being able to snack. And I just saw, like with my daughter, how awesome, and that was even before there was a loop, but how awesome the pump was. And I just knew it's not right that so many kiddos can't access that. And at that point, it wasn't the cost, it was just there's no one at school to help them. And, like, how sad is that? Like, it's not even a cost barrier. It's just, you know, there's so many folks out there doing having a hard, hard life for no reason.
Scott Benner 48:55
I'll make this other point for you, because, listen, everybody's not gonna be, you know, you with your energy to, like, you know, go organize and set up meetings and and go out there and educate. Like, everybody doesn't have those skills, right? Like, I get that, but I do take your point, though, that things would move quicker and better if more people put their voice behind it. But it's just, it's just what it is, and you have to make a decision at some point, like, I've got diabetes, my kid has diabetes. Like, these things are impacting me. I've got to make some space for this. Like, and I'll give you my listen my if you wanted to get me upset about something I'm not really upset about, but more frustrated, you'd say to me, Scott, tell me a little bit about a podcast with 20 million downloads and 1000s and 1000s of reviews and 10s of 1000s of people in a Facebook group saying, like, I listened to this series and like, look what happened. Like, I'm doing so much better, and all this. And then someone comes along and says, Just tell me what to do. I don't have time for this. That's, yeah, my favorite one is, I don't listen to podcasts, okay? Like, well, I don't know what to tell you the guy who thought. Have to give you the answers, put it in a podcast so like you're telling me, like, you can't just listen to 20 hours of a podcast to get the answers you need, because you don't listen to podcasts. Like, yeah, you seem like a nice lady, Ashley, but, but then so I feel bad saying this. But what the does that mean? If I said to you, Ashley, hey, there's a volcano coming, we have to drive away right now. And you said, I get car sick, like, I don't know, like, I'm just like, Yeah, well, today you're going to get car sick because we're going to get away from the volcano that's erupting. Like, it's a strange thing to me for somebody to come to you and say, I don't know what to do. I'm really struggling. I'm having a lot of problems. My health is deteriorating. I'm aware of all this. Can you help me? And I go, Yes, I can. Here's a 16 part series. And, oh, it's in a podcast. Oh, I don't listen to podcasts like, What the I don't even know that must be how it felt to you. I'm imagining when you're like, we need a bunch of people to support this so we can make it happen. And everybody goes, we do need these things. It's not fair. Blah, blah, blah, can you come to the meeting? Oh, not on a Thursday. Sorry. Is that frustrating? Like you, it's okay if you can. Don't want to say because you seem very nice, but did I outline it pretty well.
Ashley 51:09
I like, I always try to go to the positive. Like, the more you know, we were able to, like, draw in a lot of people in at different levels of engagement. And I would just go, like, even at the lowest level engagement, like, if everyone that's listening now in Canada that doesn't have insulin support in school would, right now, email, ideally, email and call, you know, their minister of health and their province, that would actually make a huge and like, if everyone did that, you know, in the next week, that would make a huge impact. Because they track, they track how many people are calling, how many people are emailing, and then meetings and things like that can come out of that, but they need to know that it's an issue. Yeah, and it is hard that, like, you know, someone's right to health, you know, needs to be an issue. But there are a lot of competing interests from so many things in the healthcare system and in the, you know, in the world in general, that we know, there's a lot of competing interests. You got to
Scott Benner 52:00
be in line early, and you got to have your hand out, and you got to be a squeaky wheel. Like, you know what I mean? Like, I mean, you're Canadian, so like, a very polite squeaky wheel, but still, like, if they don't know where to look, they're not going to look at you like, someone's not just going to wake up one day in power and go, You know what? I'm having this premonition that there are kids that are using old insulin because we don't have nurses in schools. I'm going to get up today and fix that like that's never going to happen. Yeah, that's right, yeah. You need people to walk out in the streets and bang, you know, bang on a pot in a pan, and scream and yell for a little bit. So, yeah, you guys did that. I You deserve a ton of credit. Like, anybody who does work like this deserves a ton of credit. It's not, obviously, it's time out of your own life. It's not easy. I'm sure there was expense involved. Getting people together to do anything is insane. Like, have you ever tried to, like, organize a softball game as an adult? Go ahead, good luck. You know what I mean? Go ahead and get 18 people together on the same piece of dirt with their baseball gloves. Yeah, you can't accomplish it. So it's more work than like, You're making it sound like it was easy, but I'm gonna guess that a big chunk of the last five years of your life have been taken up with this? No, yeah. Like, more. Yeah, more. At
Ashley 53:03
the beginning, the COVID times, for sure, was like the big push and the insulin, it's kind of been the last couple years. So, like, we did a tiered thing. We didn't take it all at the same time. Like, we worked on, chipped away, on things, having a strategy, like, definitely like to guide you, like, what do we want? And to be clear on the Ask, and then just trying to folks to jump on and and meetings, you know, with with the elected people like they do care what people want. They want to get elected again, you know. And we, when we proved even a party with the opposition, huge opposition support, which is the NDP party, pushed it forward, but the Conservative Party, which was a party of austerity, did, did do the financial for all ages, pumps and CGM because of all all the pressure, right? So it can, you know, you can get success with any with any party, if there's enough momentum behind it. Yeah,
Scott Benner 53:59
that's awesome. It's a great message, yeah, you know, in the end, like, you ever heard somebody come on the show and say, like, Whoa, I I'm having terrible outcomes with my Endo. I went to my endo and I said, like, you know, what do we make settings here? And then it goes, I don't know how to use that pump. Yeah, what's your whole job? Why don't you take five seconds and figure it out? Yeah? How many people a day do they say to like, I don't know how to use that pump. You can't go home. And then I've said it. Are like, you couldn't go home tonight and figure that out. And they go, Oh, we work a lot. I'm like, well, work. How about four more hours today to save everybody all this trouble? Like, my point here is it's weird where people draw lines in their head. Yeah, you know whether it's the people who you're looking to help, or the politicians who get to decide if you have help or not, or the people at the school are like, Oh no, I'll do a feeding tube, but I won't do this. I can't do glucagon, but I can do an EpiPen. Like, none of that makes any sense, like, so, you know. And so how do you get it to make sense? You educating is a nice way of saying it. But in the end, you got to bang on people's heads till they do what you need them to do. Like. Sometimes it just is what it is, right? And you're too nice to say that because you're from Manitoba, but, like, I can say it because I lived in Philly and jersey, so nobody expects me to be nice. Like, when I'm an asshole, everybody's just like, Oh, it's fine. He's from the East Coast. I can get away with it anyway. Everyone do your jobs. That was my point, Ashley. I had so much fun with you hanging up on yourself today. I really did enjoy this. I'm leaving all of it in. I've left directions to the editor already in audio. I'm like, don't take any of this out. Oh boy. I just want to hear you like going in and out and coming back and saying you're so I think it's really lovely. And I think it keeps the information paced well too. So Well, maybe you can
Ashley 55:40
put the commercials in the hang ups. Oh, Rob, there you go.
Scott Benner 55:44
That's a great idea. That's a great idea. Yeah, we could put an ad every time you hung up on yourself. It's awesome. And maybe more people could do that so that we can make the editing easier. Let's think about that. You're terrific. I remember having the same kind of upbeat, lovely conversation with Trevor. You guys are all very lucky you you met each other and got together because you got a lot accomplished together. It's really awesome.
Ashley 56:05
Yeah, and, yeah, it's, it's a team, team effort, 100% and and I was want to give, sorry, a quick shout out to Michaela and Christy, who are part of the influence in schools support team the latest campaign. They're kind of my my buds. Michaela has done an amazing job preventing presenting the government. So, yeah, shout out to them too. They'll appreciate that. Well, listen, while
Scott Benner 56:24
we're shouting people out, I want to thank Mike who helped me get tires on Arden's car two weeks ago. Imagine if everybody just came on and started saying each other's names, like, Oh, I just, I really want to have patty. She helped me a lot. Okay, and everybody else is like, Patty. Who the hell is Patty? Oh, the one thing I can't let you go before I ask, What the hell is the ledge?
Ashley 56:43
Oh, sorry, the legislature is, like our government house. Oh,
Scott Benner 56:47
I had it, by the way. I thought it was like on Yellowstone, where they throw the dead bodies over at the train station. Like you were like, we all got together at the ledge, and I was like, Oh, this seems like something very sinister, but Oh,
Ashley 56:58
my goodness, you're right. I did not explain that. Okay, yeah, so like the House of Representatives, or, like, you know, like a large historic place where the government meets. Okay,
Scott Benner 57:08
you're, I hope I didn't ruin the train station, for anybody who hasn't watched Yellowstone yet. Nevertheless, like you, the way you said it, I was like, Oh, I thought it was a, like, a, like, a physical place like you like, in my mind, you were like, I don't know it was like, Canada's version of, I don't know, red rock or something like that. Anyway, it's funny. What should we call this episode? I think we might call it disconnected Canada, because you hung up on yourself so many
Ashley 57:35
times. Okay, though connected, because it was all about connection. How about reconnecting
Scott Benner 57:41
Canada? Okay, that's better reconnecting Canada. I like that, yeah. All right, that's awesome. I can't say Manitoba, because people don't even think that's a real
Ashley 57:51
place. No, you can see Canada, yeah, that's fair. All right, Ashley, hold on one second for
Scott Benner 58:02
me. I A huge thanks to my longest sponsor, Omnipod. Check out the Omnipod five now with my link, omnipod.com/juicebox you may be eligible for a free starter kit, a free Omnipod five starter kit at my link, go check it out omnipod.com/juice box, Terms and Conditions apply. Full terms and conditions can be found at omnipod.com/juicebox. Today's episode of the juice box podcast is sponsored by the Dexcom g7 and the Dexcom g7 warms up in just 30 minutes. Check it out now at dexcom.com/juicebox,
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