#1582 No Nonsense
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Silvia, 45, moved from Bulgaria to Canada in 2016 and is now a trusted group expert on the Juicebox Podcast Facebook page.
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Scott Benner 0:00
Friends, we're all back together for the next episode of The Juicebox podcast. Welcome.
Sylvia 0:15
Hello. My name is Sylvia. I'm your typical Bulgarian who lives in Canada for the past nine years.
Scott Benner 0:24
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Sylvia 2:14
Hello. My name is Sylvia. I'm your typical Bulgarian who lives in Canada for the past nine years,
Scott Benner 2:22
are there a lot of Bulgarians living in Canada?
Sylvia 2:26
I don't think so. Bulgaria in general, is very small country. We have I think the biggest population in Canada is in Toronto. Here I've met some Bulgarians. They're not that many, but enough to have some friends. You know, how
Scott Benner 2:44
did you make it there? Like, nine years. I mean, how old are you now?
Sylvia 2:47
Oh, I'm 45 I was 36 it was 2016 and it's a it was a huge surprise for me. I I've never planned to live anywhere but Bulgaria. How'd that happen? Of course, everything is my husband fall. It's your
Scott Benner 3:08
husband's fault. Yes, of course, you got a
Sylvia 3:10
job. I will never choose, I will never choose to come to North America from Southern Europe. You know?
Speaker 1 3:17
Why? What do you miss about home?
Sylvia 3:20
People, the weather Bulgaria is very different than like everything is very different, and it was quite adjustment. The other thing, I never studied English in my life, and I'm very social person, and when we came for me was very hard because I didn't know anyone. The language was a huge barrier, you know. And I like being surrounded by people, chatting with people, and it was very hard. The beginning. The weather is very different, the winters are very different. I'm coming from a very different upbringing, so I had to adjust a lot.
Scott Benner 4:03
Do you think you'll stay in Canada forever? Or do you think, Oh no,
Sylvia 4:07
no, no, no, no, no, I cannot. I cannot imagine myself being here like old person when my kids grow up. If they're not around me, I don't see a reason to stay.
Scott Benner 4:22
You're gonna bug out. How many kids do you have? Two, two,
Sylvia 4:26
uh, boy, not uh, 10 years old already, and a girl, 15 years
Scott Benner 4:31
old. Okay, and so, oh, he was born here, or the were they both born in Bulgaria?
Sylvia 4:36
Still he was, he was exactly one year old, and my daughter was six when you got to Canada, yes, yes. When we got to Canada, yeah, yeah.
Scott Benner 4:45
Does your husband know that he's ruined everything, or do you
Sylvia 4:48
always, yeah, yeah, I always
Speaker 1 4:50
try to remind him, yeah. You don't want him to be too comfortable.
Sylvia 4:53
Yeah, yeah. He's amazing guy. I love him, but you know he has to know. I. But don't get me wrong. I don't want people to get me wrong. Canadians are amazing. Like in the movies, we've been watching a lot of American movies, and the Canadian guy is always this nice guy. They are like this. I love them, but coming at the age of 36 you have your own education somewhere else. This is not your language. It's not your culture. You build everything for 36 years, your family is there, your friends are there. It's hard, but the people are lovely, honestly. The people are really, really lovely. Were
Scott Benner 5:35
you inland in Bulgaria? Were you on the ocean? Like, where did you kind of where did you live?
Sylvia 5:41
Okay, I was born and raised in a town close to the Black Sea. I miss them. I miss the sea tremendously. I cannot tell you how much I miss the sea, the beaches, yeah, the mountains, because we live in Ontario. Ontario, pretty much is flat, and I miss the mountains as well. But when I turned 17, I moved to the other end of the country, with more mountains, to the capital of Bulgaria, Sofia, and there I studied. I met my husband. My kids are born there in the capital we live there, yeah, long time he just
Scott Benner 6:23
gets a job that moves you that far.
Sylvia 6:25
He said, at one point, he said, Let's go to Canada when, when I gave birth to my daughter, and he didn't like the situation there for kids, the education, you know? And he said, Let's try Canada, because he felt that Canada has this more close to the scandinavius countries education,
Scott Benner 6:48
and that's what he was looking for, for them, and also
Sylvia 6:50
his job, his job, he couldn't have the the growth, professional growth that he
Scott Benner 6:57
has here. I see, yeah, and you have type one or your kids,
Sylvia 7:02
my son, my son, who is 10, got diagnosed in Canada, 2022, he was seven, okay, and that was another really hard thing for me, because the Healthcare System is very different, and I'm alone with anyone. And you know, it's very different. It's very different experience.
Scott Benner 7:28
Your English is terrific, but how long? Thank you so much. You're welcome, but how long did it take you to get to that?
Sylvia 7:33
To be honest, I'm not satisfied where I am, because I love languages. And honestly, I don't know. I don't know. I still have to work a lot on it. We came 2016 I pushed myself to go out and talking with people. I watch movies. I said to myself, Okay, Sylvia, you're not gonna watch Bulgarian movies anymore. You're not gonna read books in Bulgarian forget about it. You're gonna read everything in English, you're gonna listen everything in English, and here we
Scott Benner 8:04
are. Yeah. How long do you think it took you to be conversational?
Sylvia 8:07
Conversational like small talks the couple of months?
Scott Benner 8:13
Wow, did you speak any English when you got there? No, no, I
Sylvia 8:17
wouldn't say. I wouldn't say. No, no, that's crazy. Reading, reading, yes, reading, yes, reading, writing, because you have time when you read and write, you have time to assimilate the world. You have time to correct your mistakes. The hard part, let me tell you what the hard part is. I think in Bulgarian now, when I speak with you. I'm thinking in Bulgarian, and I have to speak right away in English. And the other thing, you cannot translate literally Bulgarian to English, because the meaning is not the same.
Scott Benner 8:54
So you, in your mind, dream up how you feel, and then you translate it on the fly into English.
Sylvia 9:00
Yeah, yeah. And you if, if you say something incorrectly is out there. It's not like when you write, you know, you have time to correct yourself. Sure. And it's very hard, because now, while I'm speaking in English, I still think in Bulgaria,
Scott Benner 9:17
yeah, very hard. I've heard other people talk about that? Oh,
Sylvia 9:21
so hard. And pronunciation is different. Pronunciation is very different.
Scott Benner 9:25
Okay, how does that affect the diagnosis of your son? Like when you're in the hospital and they're speaking to you, do you feel like you're understanding
Sylvia 9:32
everything? Yes, I did understand everything, but I was kind of lost, because my idea in my perspective of health care and how the things working was different. Do you want me to share with you? Yeah,
Speaker 1 9:51
okay. Are you nervous? Wait, Sylvi, are you nervous?
Sylvia 9:53
No, no, I'm not nervous at all. I just want you know. I just want people to enjoy this conversation. Question, like, I enjoy every episode of the podcast,
Scott Benner 10:03
yeah? That. I'm sure they will. Yeah, I'd like to know more about it.
Sylvia 10:07
Yeah, awesome. So when we decide to come to Canada, because I've heard a lot of stories about hospitals and emergency how you stay for hours there, I said to myself, Okay, I'm going to bring everything I need so we avoid hospitals. Okay? So I brought glucometers, I brought blood pressure meters, medications, everything I could bring. And for six years, we never went to hospital or we never needed medical attention, and I was regularly checking my daughter blood sugar, because I have two main fears, anaphylaxis and decay. Since I'm a parent, those two are my main fears. And one Saturday, I remember this also. The other thing is important to know, I am one of those parents that constantly reminding their kids to drink water. For me, water is very important. I love water. They have to drink a lot of water, and I'm all the time, drink water. Drink water. And one Saturday morning we were about to go somewhere. The weather was nice in October, and my son suddenly, he said, Mom, you're gonna be so proud of me. This week, I refused my water bottle at school two times, and I said, Oh, okay, let me check on he starts screaming. He starts screaming. And was like, buddy, it's two seconds. Let's check it. Probably it's nothing, but let's check. I convinced him. I checked and it was 2424
Scott Benner 11:54
Yeah, you had a blood glucose meter in the house, just in case, yes, yes, yes. Just in case, yeah. Why did you know so quickly that thirst was a precursor for diabetes? When you think of a CGM and all the good that it brings in your life, is the first thing you think about. I love that I have to change it all the time. I love the warm up period every time I have to change it. I love that when I bump into a doorframe, sometimes it gets ripped off. I love that the adhesive kind of gets mushy sometimes when I sweat and falls off. No, these are not the things that you love about a CGM. Today's episode of The Juicebox podcast is sponsored by the Eversense 365 the only CGM that you only have to put on once a year, and the only CGM that won't give you any of those problems. The Eversense 365 is the only one year CGM designed to minimize the vice frustration. It has exceptional accuracy for one year with almost no false alarms from compression lows while you're sleeping, you can manage your diabetes instead of your CGM with the Eversense 365 learn more and get started today at ever since cgm.com/juicebox one year one CGM. Let's talk about the tandem Moby insulin pump from today's sponsor tandem diabetes care, their newest algorithm control iq plus technology and the new tandem Moby pump offer you unique opportunities to have better control. It's the only system with auto Bolus that helps with missed meals and preventing hyperglycemia, the only system with a dedicated sleep setting, and the only system with off or on body wear options. Tandemobi gives you more discretion, freedom and options for how to manage your diabetes. This is their best algorithm ever, and they'd like you to check it out at tandem diabetes.com/juicebox when you get to my link, you're going to see integrations with Dexcom sensors and a ton of other information that's going to help you learn about tandems. Tiny pump that's big on control tandem diabetes.com/juicebox the tandem mobi system is available for people ages two and up who want an automated delivery system to help them sleep better wake up in range and address high blood sugars with auto Bolus. Okay,
Sylvia 14:16
let me tell you, after I graduate from my master degree in social work. I got bored because I was 23 and I wanted some medical education. I didn't want to be a physician or doctor any kind. I wanted to be close, more close, to people. I'm very interested in people, and I enrolled in a nursing program for four years because it's shorter, the shortest medical, you know, program, and that's
Scott Benner 14:49
how, that's how, wow. That's crazy. How does that go then, like, once you realize blood sugar is high, did you make the leap? Did you say this looks like type one diabetes?
Sylvia 14:59
I was sure. I didn't say this. This looks like I was sure, okay. Let me tell you something really crazy. Since my son Kala, his name is kalayam, but we call him Kala, since he was born, I knew something will happen with this guy. Honestly, I just
Speaker 1 15:18
knew you had a bad feeling. Yes,
Sylvia 15:21
since he was born, I knew I didn't know why, of course, like every I don't know parent probably I thought
Scott Benner 15:29
cancer, really, it was in your head. He was going to get cancer from what
Sylvia 15:33
age? No, no, no, not cancer, something, something. But my, my main fear was cancer, okay, but I knew something will happen. I don't know why. Don't ask me,
Scott Benner 15:44
why other people in your family sick? Did you grow up around illness? No, no.
Sylvia 15:49
My dad died when I was 14. But I'm not anxious. I'm I don't do anxiety. I don't have this feeling with my daughter. I didn't have it with my daughter. I don't have it with anyone who specifically with my son? No, jeez. Very strange. No, no, very strange, I'm telling you. Oh, man, strange. So even
Scott Benner 16:10
it took you by surprise feeling that way,
Sylvia 16:13
yeah, because from I always, not always, but I try to find reasons behind stuff. I'm not like all this happened, because the universe, you know, I try to find reason for this. I I can
Scott Benner 16:29
interesting. That's very interesting. Okay, so do you take him to a doctor or to a hospital?
Sylvia 16:35
That's the thing. The guy is good. He's happy. He's healthy, okay, I know what is happening. He's stable. I can see him, okay. So I thought back home, it was Saturday, right? And I said, I'm not going to emergency. We're gonna stay there for hours, seven, eight, yeah, back home, what we will do? Kids have pediatrician. You also have their personal number. You can always call them, but usually you will call them on Monday, and they will give you appointment. You will go right away. They will prescribe you stuff, or you will see endo immediately, you know? And I thought the same, it's Monday, Monday. When Monday comes, I'm gonna call on the family physician. He will, and we will go from there, yeah, but my husband will get very worried. And he said, Sylvia, let's not go anywhere. Let's call. He has from his insurance this online. Yeah, you know,
Scott Benner 17:33
yeah, you call, you do a consult, like through video chat or something, yes, yes, yes,
Sylvia 17:38
yes, you call nurse practitioner. Then I said, Okay, let's let's call. And when I said to the guy, and he said, Go in the emergency immediately. And I said, I'm gonna wait for hours. He said, the second day here this blood sugar, they're gonna admit him immediately. Yeah, no, yeah. Seven hours. Seven hours we were staying in a waiting room with coughing kids, vomiting kids, my son, who is super chill guy, the chillest guy ever get nervous. Seven hours, Scott, because he was,
Scott Benner 18:21
he looked okay, right? He was okay, yeah. So everything you thought was gonna happen happened now, everything when you get through that process, because it sounds like you're ready for it in your mind already. You get all through that the hospital, how do you start? You know what I mean? Like, where do you dive in at we were
Sylvia 18:39
in the hospital. I saw that the nurses there have absolutely no idea. He was very nervous. Why? Because when the doctors came, first doctor that came, he said he has type one. I said, Okay, are you gonna start him on insulin immediately? He said, Yes. And then they told him, okay, buddy, don't worry about it. You're gonna live your normal life. You're gonna eat cereal like a champ. My son doesn't need cereal. And my son started getting panicked, and they asked him, What do you want for breakfast? And he said, salmon and eggs. And they said, no, no, no, you cannot have someone and next so told him, You can have everything you want, and next thing, you cannot have
Scott Benner 19:28
the thing you want. So he can have cereal, but he can't have eggs and fish.
Sylvia 19:31
No, no, he can in he I will never Scott. I will never forget his look. He looked at me and said, Mommy, do I have to start eating cereal because of the diabetes. Oh my gosh. And I said, No, no, no, no no, this not happening. He's gonna eat no, no, no. He has to eat this and this carbs immediate among like a crazy, crazy amount of carbs that he never eat, even in a day back then. Now, it's different story. But.
Scott Benner 20:00
Hack again. Were they going to put him on regular? Mph?
Sylvia 20:02
No, no, no, no, no,
Scott Benner 20:08
but they couldn't figure out how to eat eggs with that.
Sylvia 20:10
Yeah, I said, guys, it's 20. You know, it's 21st Century. Come on, we're flexible. We can eat that was the first, the first thing that pushed me to want them to discharge us immediately, as fast as possible, his endo team, let me be clear. After that, they introduced us to his endo team. They're amazing. But when we were in a pediatrician Ward one time, even the nurse was about to give him the wrong dose insulin. And, you know, I had it enough. And I said, Please, please, just discharge us. They said, Okay, let me call your pediatrician that gonna follow your type one. And she came. And before she came, I said to my son, you know what? They wanna know. They wanna be sure that we are capable of doing this at home. Okay, so look confident. And that was also crazy. She came. She came, and the guy and the nurse gave me the pen, and she said, I don't know, whatever unit and my son grabbed the pen and administer insulin in his leg in front of everyone and his pediatricians. Oh, okay. This guy is ready. This guy is ready. The mom looks. She knows what she's doing. Okay,
Scott Benner 21:34
that worked. Huh? That what? That got you out of there? Yes,
Sylvia 21:38
yes. But they said you have to come next day, early in the morning for some education. I said, No problem.
Scott Benner 21:46
Okay. Now, did you find the education helpful? Oh,
Sylvia 21:50
thank you so much for reminding me very important point there in the room when I realized they don't know much, and I'm by myself. I know diabetes, I know insulin, but I don't know my son diabetes, right? I start immediately searching for information. That's how I find you. I start listening to the podcast immediately. I didn't join the group immediately, but I I found the podcast. I went on Amazon and just type type one books. I ordered first five, six books, and I found the podcast. I desperately needed education more than what they can give me.
Scott Benner 22:33
What made you think at the hospital that you weren't getting good information?
Sylvia 22:37
They didn't look confident, really, they didn't look confident and flexible. And even Scott, even if they know about type one, I know about type as well. I knew as well. They don't know my son, they don't know our lifestyle. They don't know nothing, right, how I can rely on them. And the other thing, the next day, when you ask me about the education. Next day we went. His team is district dietician, nurse and pediatrician. That's his team, lovely people and very honest, and honestly, they do everything that I want them to do. And his pediatrician, the first thing she said to me was still video, after a couple of months, you're gonna be smarter than me when it comes to diabetes. And then that was the slap for me, a very nice slap that I am. I am the person. I'm the person that has to be educated. Yeah, I am the person that has to know till this day, I constantly thank her for this, because then I realized it's on me and
Scott Benner 23:49
you didn't feel overwhelmed by that. It was, it was empowering. No, never, yeah,
Sylvia 23:53
exactly. That's who I am. I have a challenge. I feel motivated. I got you. That's me. I don't dwell. I don't get stuck like things like, Why me? Why my son? Can I change it? I can't. So let's move on. What can we do this and this? Let's do it. And there in the room, in the hospital room, I knew that I have to educate myself. That's
Scott Benner 24:23
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Sylvia 25:52
that's me. That's me, and I want to teach my kids exactly the same. I want my kids to have my mindset because life never gonna be easy. If you expect life to be easy, the HAP your happiness and your comfort to come from outside, you're never gonna be happy, never kind
Scott Benner 26:18
of create that for yourself through what? What creates the comfort,
Sylvia 26:22
you know? What creates the comfort? Okay, I'm 14. My dad is the most energetic, the most active, the most cheerful person I know, the last person I could have imagined death, you know? And when my dad died, and I was 14, and I saw this, one of the first thing I thought to myself was, there is no order. If this guy can die at 36 unexpected, everyone can Okay. And then I start living honestly when you realize your own mortality, when you realize that tomorrow is no guarantee, when you realize that there is no future. We all think that there is future, but who can say,
Scott Benner 27:11
yeah, how old were you when your father passed? 1414? That's 30 years ago now.
Sylvia 27:19
It was 94 it was 94 Yeah, 3031, yeah, 3031, yes, I'm 45
Scott Benner 27:28
he'd only be in his mid 60s right now, he
Sylvia 27:30
was 36 and now he would be 67 Yeah, that's crazy. It is crazy. But this changed me. This changed me tremendously. And since day, since then I'm not wasting time getting stuck of negative thinking. Yeah, what's the point? If something will have helped me, if some thoughts will help me, okay, but if the feeling is not helpful, why? And
Scott Benner 27:58
you're able to get past it and using that knowledge of that tomorrow's not guaranteed. Yes, that's the one. That's that thing that just powers you through all this.
Sylvia 28:08
It is not many people say that, but they actually do not really realizing it. Yeah, that today may be your last day. Why to waste it? Of course, every one of us can find reasons to be miserable, everyone, but every one of us can find also reasons to be happy and motivated and joyful, right? So it's your choice. Life's not gonna be easy. No one, no one promise you that, and that's how I raise my kids, and probably Scott, to be honest, that's why color color. It's not taking this diagnosis like something very surprising or shocking. I speak with them, since they're very little about stuff like this, yeah. So
Scott Benner 29:00
he just accepted it and kept moving.
Sylvia 29:02
Yes, he accepted it. When he has bad days, we talk about it, we laugh, we cry, but we move on. Because there's, there is no point really. There is no point to to waste your time. Life is short. Life is short. The most certain thing is that all of us gonna die. And this is not depressing. This is this is encouraging that you are here. Enjoy
Scott Benner 29:28
it. Yeah, I feel the same way. I know I speak about it differently. I say things like, I'm almost dead. I'm 232, thirds the way through my life, things like that. But I still feel about it the way you do. I'm not bemoaning the fact that I'm getting older and being like, oh, it's almost over. I only have a third left, or whatever. I think it's beneficial to remember that this is not an open ended trip, you know, like it is going to come to an end at some point.
Sylvia 29:52
And that's amazing. And that's yesterday my son, Carla, we talk a lot about the other thing i. Let me tell you about Bulgarians. We don't do small talks. We go deep, like on a daily basis. So yesterday, we were talking with Carla about something, he said, and he said, Mom, you I don't get why some people want to live forever. This is so frightening for me. And I said, yes for me as well. She was like, forever. Can you imagine mom forever? Can you imagine the eternity? It's frightening. Who wants to live forever?
Scott Benner 30:29
So, yeah, I have to tell you, I would like to live forever.
Sylvia 30:32
Oh, really, my mom as well. Honestly, I don't get this, but that's okay. I
Scott Benner 30:36
feel so busy that okay. I would love to have more time to do more things Now, having said that, if you gave it to me, I don't know, maybe 100 years from now, I'd think like That's enough, exactly, yeah, but I at the I guess maybe I would take that more as an inclination for me to say that I just don't feel done at this point I
Sylvia 30:58
get it. Yes, okay, I get it, but forever is too long.
Scott Benner 31:02
Yeah, probably for sure, I would imagine at some point it would just be like, What am I? I've run out of things to do, exactly like those vampire movies, you know, where they're just like,
Sylvia 31:16
we don't do boring.
Scott Benner 31:18
We can find more to do after a while. But that's an interesting way to think about it too, because sometimes I find that with music, or the other day, somebody asked me what my favorite movie was, and oh, and I told them. And then I thought, like, I wonder how many more times I'll see that movie? Probably not that many more times. And like, Am I really motivated to see it again? Like, now I've seen it already, but when I was younger, I'd watch it more frequently, because he'd be like, This is awesome. I want to see this again. And now it feels more like, well, I've seen it. I'm good, yeah, yeah,
Sylvia 31:47
exactly. And at some point, if you live forever, this will happen with everything, and you will want to die, like,
Speaker 1 31:55
I can't do this anymore.
Sylvia 31:57
I cannot. Yes, absolutely.
Scott Benner 31:59
That's so funny. I'm watching that happen to my wife right now. We've only been together for 30 years. She's like, I think I can't do this anymore.
Sylvia 32:07
I may. Oh my gosh, I'm with my husband. We lived together for 27 years. When I met, I'm like, 27 the rest of our lives, and what we feel we live long like my grandparents and my great grandparents
Scott Benner 32:28
and I got lunch together today, and we watched, we watched this, this very older, very much older couple pull up outside of the restaurant. Oh, and they're, you know, they he gets out. He's driving. She gets out. She's in the passenger seat. Now. She has one of those canes that has four feet on the bottom of it, and she gets out of the car, and she just walks like in a complete circle, like she's not sure if she wants to go to the front of the car to go up on the curb, or if she wants to go around the back of the car and go look for, you know, a ramp to get up or not. And she's like Arden said she's spinning in a circle like a dog. I can't decide where to lay down. And she's spinning a circle. And I went, and I go, Oh, she's gonna go, she's gonna go to the back of the car. And as we're watching all this happen, the guy is watching her, the husband, and he just goes, I'm walking inside, and he just walks away. She's making her way. She doesn't need his help. Like, I want to be clear, it's not like she was waiting for him. For him to help. Yeah, but he just watched her spin a couple times, and he was like, I've seen this show already. And he just, he just took off, making me think about that. You know what's freaking me out? Like, I know you were nervous about your accent.
Sylvia 33:36
Yes, very much. You should. I don't like it. I don't like it. You shouldn't be, yeah,
Scott Benner 33:40
it's really interesting for me, because you and I do speak pretty frequently through writing, you know, like, and we've again, it's not that we haven't seen each other like, I guess we haven't really told people yet, but like, you fill one of the group expert roles on the Facebook group. Somebody is awesome in there. You guys might know her. I communicate with you mostly through writing. Yes, yes, you're very like, smart, sarcastic, thoughtful lady. You know what I mean and like, and I know that's strange to say that when you have an accent, my brain doesn't expect that.
Sylvia 34:13
But you know what? From now on, everyone that hear this episode when they read my comments. Now, in
Scott Benner 34:23
my accent, it's gonna sound like Rocky and Bullwinkle to them. No. Do people know that reference? There's no way, right? I don't know. I don't know it. You don't know it either. No, all right, in the cartoon Rocky and Bullwinkle. Now, Rocky was a squirrel, Bullwinkle was a moose. There was also two spies, Natasha, and I forget the guy that she was with, but you're definitely gonna sound like Natasha to people who know Rocky. Yeah, this is from 1959 so all of my references are of the most cutting edge, always,
Sylvia 34:58
and my and also. Coming from different parts of the world. So my cartoons were different. Were
Scott Benner 35:04
definitely different. How about my references are coming from 11 years before I was born, which should show people how it's only been a couple of generations where you've really had a lot to watch on television or like to consume any way you want to. As a child, I was watching a cartoon that was already 11 years old because that's what was available. You know what I mean? Like, older than that. I wasn't watching Rocky and Bullwinkle when I was first born. That thing was probably 15 or 20 years old by the time I was watching it, and I was thrilled.
Sylvia 35:34
Yeah, when I was a kid, we had, I think only one time per day you can watch some cartoon and that's it. Yeah, yeah. I
Scott Benner 35:45
used to have to get up at 6am or 530 on Saturday morning to watch Mighty Mouse. And that was, it's ridiculous. You were like, exhausted, like, sitting there, just like, and then the cartoon was over, and you're like, I guess I'll see if I can live another week and do it again. Yeah, same thing. Same, same. Now you, you guys are all just like going to YouTube and just typing in wherever
Sylvia 36:07
you want, awesome. Yes, yeah. Now it's awesome. Now I love watching cartoons with my kids. What do you
Scott Benner 36:13
think about the way content is now? Like, so you found the podcast, and then I'm going to put words in your mouth, but I feel like I know it helped you with the diabetes and
Sylvia 36:20
everything. Tremendously, tremendous. I started immediately. I started back then. I was working with one of my friends. Most of the time. I was stay at home, mom, the kids grow up. And I said, life is amazing. Kids are independent. I'm gonna start working again, and I start helping one of my friends. He has a dental clinic close to me, and I start helping him. It was awesome. And color got diagnosed, and me and my husband, we don't have nurses at school, and me and my husband decided that there is no reason for me to quit my job, right? And he said, I'm gonna cover Carl at school, and I was working. That was the most busy three months I was working. I was listening the podcast like my son. Life depends on it. Honestly, two, three episodes per day. I was working all day and taking care of everything. You know how it is, it helps me a lot. I was listening to the management episodes, of course, because I just wanted to figure it out. I want him to have a healthy, long life. And I saw that I need to educate myself otherwise, and I start experimenting everything that I heard before. After three months of craziness, my husband very busy at work. He said, Honestly, I don't know if I can go twice per day forever the school. Yeah. And I said, you know why, guys, every time we take big decision, we four of us sit on the table and discuss it. And I said, guys, if you want, I will quit my job and I will stay at home and take care of everything. I think it's it's for the best for everyone, even for me, for my mental health, because it was crazy. And they said, Okay, if you want to, that's okay. And then I stay. And while he's at school, I was listening to both the podcast, so pretty quickly I educated myself with the podcast.
Scott Benner 38:39
How did you know to believe me. Like, how did you know you could trust what I was saying?
Sylvia 38:44
Okay, now you're asking a person that knew her child will have something I just knew it felt right to you absolutely. I always go like this in my life. I always follow what I feel is right. I i Don't overthink too much. I cannot. That's my
Scott Benner 39:05
your gut told you it was, it was what you were hearing, seemed bright, and you just went
Sylvia 39:08
with it. Yes, I was hearing the Yeah, it was logical, and I was testing it.
Scott Benner 39:15
Okay? So I say something, you do it. It works. You go, okay, builds a little trust, and you keep
Sylvia 39:21
going, even if it's not working. From the first time, I had specific mindset, you know that, like always, in every situation, I see a solution. I see opportunities. I don't see problems. Whenever, when something comes, I see ways to solve it, yeah, and you add that, you just add to this mindset.
Scott Benner 39:47
Okay, you think, I think like that.
Sylvia 39:49
I don't know, I have no idea how you think, but you start building the right mindset towards diabetes in me and I. Said, Okay, I like this. It suits me. So I continue, and I listen to the podcast religiously till this day. Yeah, thank you. But now for fun,
Scott Benner 40:10
I appreciate that lady this morning told me, what'd she say? I'm not I don't make the titles the right way. She said, the title
Sylvia 40:17
amazing. One of my favorite things, your title. I love it. I
Scott Benner 40:22
actually responded back to her, and I said, Listen, like, totally serious, like, pick a couple of episodes that you really like, and then you come back to me, tell me a, what was the episode about, and B, what would you call it? I didn't just start calling them crazy. I did it because, you know, we have these longer conversations. And sometimes there's four or five different topics that get brought up. Like, I've just always thought, like, if I picked one of them, you know, like, I mean, imagine if I called this episode, you know, I don't know she's from Bulgaria, and then people wouldn't hear and like, they'd be like, Oh, that's what this is about. But it's not, it's one of the things we spoke about, you know, and especially with the diabetes stuff, you might talk about three or four different kinds of ideas. I can't just call it this one's about pre bolusing, when we actually spoke about five other things, because then you'll think, Oh, I understand pre bolusing. I don't need to listen. I can't really, can't really win, you know what I mean? So
Sylvia 41:18
I don't know. I like the title, so I like them very
Scott Benner 41:22
much. Yeah, I appreciate that very much. Now, do you think that that's cultural? Do you think, like, if I went to Bulgaria, I would be a huge hit, or do you it's just you specifically,
Sylvia 41:30
yes, yes. Some people will say, Oh my gosh, this guy pretends he knows everything. Who is? This guy doesn't have education even. But I think most of the people will like you, because when you talk about life and stuff, you sound like Bulgarian you're very honest, you're very straightforward. You don't sugarcoat, we don't sugarcoat, we don't sugarcoat, we're very honest. You have amazing sense of humor.
Scott Benner 42:00
Thank you. I appreciate that. I know it's funny because I know you to have a very good sense of humor, but mostly from writing that's interesting. It is really interesting. My favorite quote from Natasha in Rocky and Bullwinkle is she once, she once said brainwashing brainless moose was not such a hot idea. And, my God. If it was up to me, that's what I would call this episode. But even I put myself in check, so
Sylvia 42:29
I'm interested. I'm interested. I'm not gonna give you ideas very, very, very interested.
Scott Benner 42:36
My expectation is, is that I think some people find their way to it, and they're not really, they're not really podcast listeners, right? They're not a person who loves sitting and listening to a longer conversation about something. I
Sylvia 42:48
don't listen to podcasts. That's the only podcast I listen. I don't listen. I'm not a podcast person. I
Scott Benner 42:55
like books. You might like a good podcast. I think maybe there's just a lot of bad ones. No, no, I just
Sylvia 43:00
don't like I just don't like I just don't listen to podcasts. When I saw when I was looking for something to I found, I found books to read, okay, but now I wanted also to listen to something right when I was driving my car. But I wasn't a podcast person, so for me, it was very hard but, but I said, Okay, let's try it. Let's try it. Then I started, I think the first episode was about basal, because I really wanted to figure it out what the basal is doing. And from then, I just continued listening. I'm
Scott Benner 43:40
glad you. Yeah, you're a huge help in the group. I can't thank you. Oh,
Sylvia 43:44
thank you, almost. Oh, no, thank you, please. I owe you. I want you. You know,
Scott Benner 43:50
no, why would you say that? I You're definitely doing me a favor. Why? Why do you owe me?
Sylvia 43:54
No, no, no, Scott, listen, listen. You are very, very, very important part in our type one journey with you. I know myself, either way, I would have found what I need to learn, but you made it easier, faster, enjoyable. Which is not a little you know, the other thing you gave me, you gave me community. You gave me friends I never thought in my life that I will love with all my heart, people that I've never met in person. Yeah, even my kids are making fun of me because I'm like, you cannot communicate. You always communicate virtually. You have to go out. You have to see the people. You have to watch people in their eyes. You know. You have to shake their hand. Yeah? You. But now one of my best friends, huge supporters, are people I've never met in my life. In person.
Scott Benner 45:10
That's just from the from the Facebook group, from
Sylvia 45:13
the group, the group experts, yeah, I don't know how you did it, but you get together people that are fabulous, it's a very good group of people. When you see them in the group, you know we are in the group. We have to be how should I say? You have to consider that's a big group. You have to be careful with your words, especially me, because most of the people are from North America. I really try to be considerate, because we different, yeah, and when you see people in the group, they're nice, but I communicate with them privately, and you can imagine how really nice they are. Yeah, they're lovely. They are they are amazing. Oh, by the way, yeah, let me tell you something. Happy birthday, Cory. Oh, is it Corey birthday? Cory's birthday. This guy is amazing because of him. Now, when I hear Texas, I have very good feelings. He is such a nice guy. All of them, all
Scott Benner 46:14
of them. No, I know everybody brings something special, and they're all really like, I don't know, lovely is the best word I could think of. And well, well, well meaning,
Sylvia 46:24
yes, yes, they are. They really want to help people. They really, really care.
Scott Benner 46:29
No, I It's lovely. I really don't have to give, like, a lot of credit
Sylvia 46:33
to Isabel. Oh, Isabel is amazing. Isabel is amazing human being. And sometimes I feel so sorry that nobody's I don't think, not nobody, no, I don't think most of the people realizing what she's doing behind the scenes. She's awesome. Isabelle. I love I love
Scott Benner 46:51
her. I think that I do things the way you do a little bit like, on vibe, you know, like, like, I've sent names. Like, there are people who are group experts. Now that I just said Isabel, I'm like, This person would make a good group expert. And I know she's like, Why do you think that? What did you What did you read? I'm like, and I don't have the same like, I don't have the same way of going through it that she would, right? But at the same time, she keeps you guys all cohesive, like she gave you that little group where you guys can talk. She said, it's I'm not in it on purpose. Like we nobody wants you to feel like I'm watching you. But the way she describes, like, the community that you guys have just in there, she said, It's irreplaceable, amazing. I was gonna say like, you know, so I just kind of ran away. I'm like, I think that person would be good. This person, like, strikes me the right way. But what else does she do besides this amazing job? She picked some of you too, don't worry. But the thing that she she does, where you said people might not know, is she keeps me focused on things. Like she'll say, Hey, did you see this? Or people are starting to fight about that? Have you noticed that this topics become more popular recently? She keeps me focused on that stuff. She makes sure that I see when people are thanking me because I don't see it, although I acts are crazy, so I can't, I can't keep up with them. And so she'll be like, Hey, make sure you see this. This, this, here, this. But the other thing is, I mean, the bold beginning series really has a lot to do with Isabelle. Like she's the one that said that. I think there needs to be something in between the pro tips and the defining diabetes, and that's how we got to the bold beginnings. Like, you know, or, you know, a lot of the other stuff that we work on, like, when you hear Jenny and I talking through topics, a lot of times, those topics were pulled together by Isabelle, yay. There's a lot that goes on amazing. Like you said, the people listening would know about but and it's all just volunteer. Everybody's just volunteering their time. It's love. It really is something.
Sylvia 48:47
They really care Me too, me too. I'm not as I'm honestly, I don't think my experience is if with a great value still, because I'm, you know, three years, not there's no three years even we do really care about people. We really want people to succeed, to be encouraged, to be motivated and to be healthy and happy. We really do care about
Scott Benner 49:15
that. Well, that's the skill that is to have that desire for other people without wanting anything in return, yes, and then being able to communicate it in that setting. What
Sylvia 49:27
do you mean? What? Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean? Without wanting anything in return? What are you not getting? Anything? I've received so much. Oh, no, no, no, no, I've received so much. This community is everything for me, everything. I don't
Scott Benner 49:43
want to speak out of turn. I don't want to speak for somebody. But I think if you asked Isabelle, she'd say that she's doing that for me, that she wants the thing that I'm doing to succeed because she sees it helps people, it helped her, and she's paying me back in her mind. Does that make sense? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. But what are you doing? Who are you trying to say, thank you to you. Is that weird?
Sylvia 50:06
The most No, no, no. To you, the most and to you, thank you. You were the first. It's it, you know, after that, thank you for all my friends that are the group experts and we have our private conversations. They're a huge part in my life. For me, it's great pleasure and honor to be part of our community, to meet new people, if I can give for example, I'm not a huge expert when it comes to palm, when it comes to other details, you know, but if I can give emotional comfort, at least to some people, for me, that's huge, because it breaks my heart when I see especially caregivers who feels guilty? Yeah, guilt is absolutely useless, feeling get rid of the guilt. No one is guilty of anything. Everyone is doing their best, and many times those, some of the caregivers are being criticized because someone choose another way of management, the other one choose other. And there is some tension. I really want to give comfort and love to everyone, because all of us that we are doing our best, all of us love our kids. You know,
Scott Benner 51:38
somebody told me recently that that I've fomented a toxic positivity feeling in there. And I don't agree with that. Toxic positivity being so positive, it's not good, I guess is the idea of toxic positivity. But I don't think it's just, I don't think it's just positive for the sake of being positive, yeah, which even that is a strange thing to be upset about. But I think it's a place for you.
Sylvia 52:01
No, no, you can be either. I think this, this person is misunderstanding. Okay, you can take me as an example. You can be positive, and you can decide to focus on the good, and at the same time, you can be fully aware of all the bad stuff that can happen. Yeah, my son is 10 years old. He's fully aware what type one is. He's fully aware what life is. He's fully aware what death is. He's fully aware what hypo is and DKA and stuff like this. But he choose to be happy a carefree kid, I'm the same. Yeah, this is cultural for you, right? Yes, yes. We talk about this. You You're born and you die. That's part of life. There's nothing depressing, nothing dark in it. It's life. It's it's wonderful how you can enjoy your life if you, if you, you know you cannot realize that it's short, how you can enjoy it to the fullest, how you can enjoy the bird, how you can enjoy your kids laugh, how you can enjoy playing with your kids, how you can enjoy drinking coffee with your husband,
Scott Benner 53:16
that it will end is What makes it special, of course.
Sylvia 53:19
Yeah. Carpe Diem, that's it.
Scott Benner 53:23
Did I say something in an episode recently about Eastern block that made you laugh? Amazing. I love that was the context.
Sylvia 53:32
Amazing. Oh, let me tell you. So it was awesome. She said they allowed their son to stay alone for the night, and they went somewhere with her husband, but the son, he turned off the phone and stuff like this. He wasn't picking his phone. Zuska, when she came back, she said, you know, buddy, that was a test for you to show us how independent you can be. You blow it. So sorry. You cannot stay, you cannot go to sleepovers and stuff like that. And you said, can you be less Eastern block in this sentence? You know, no, you cannot. That's how we've been raised. You know, it's, it's very different. It's very different.
Scott Benner 54:19
There's a tiny difference between like the I think there's a way you say what you say, and then I've heard other people lament, well, you know, when they start talking about like life is finite, they say it almost like it's a sad thing, but you don't, it's not a sad thing, too.
Sylvia 54:33
It's wonderful, guys, it's amazing. Yeah. Oh no. Here people find this shocking. My kids, for example, when color, color, have bad moments. Usually, this is when we change his pump. He hated. He really hated. And for example, he will tell me, mom, mom can when we have a can when we do pump change, can I swear? Can I say the F word? Can we have a. First. And I said, Absolutely, yes, absolutely, you can do it. We don't speak like this. He doesn't speak like this. But give me a break. This kid is 10. He has a huge challenge in his life. Allow him to do whatever he want to do, to relax and make this change pump easier. One day, we changed the pump, and he said, You know what? And I said, why what? Sometimes I don't like diabetes. And I was like, there is nothing to like in diabetes. What is there to like? And we start talking about autoimmune diseases, all of them, I start talking about MS and different. And he was listening to me, and he said, You know what? I think I have one of the best out of your diseases. Yeah, that's a good one. And no one is depressed. If you see my kids, they are the most happiest, cheerful gift in the world. So you can be positive and you can be at the same time, fully aware what life is. Yeah,
Scott Benner 56:10
you can choose your own direction, to some degree, exactly,
Sylvia 56:13
focus, choose to choose on what to focus
Speaker 1 56:19
on, what the focus? Yeah, if I
Sylvia 56:21
cry, okay, I'm sad. I want to cry. If I cry, this gonna make me feel better after that. I will cry. If will make me feel worse. I will not cry. You know what I mean, whatever
Scott Benner 56:34
release. Yeah, if there's a release you're happy for, but you're not gonna you wouldn't live in the in, in in the sadness.
Sylvia 56:43
Oh no, I cannot. I just can't. Since I know myself, I cannot live in the sadness. I just can't I don't like it. It doesn't feel well, some people like it. Some people like I don't like it. I like to be happy. I like to enjoy my family, my friends, and life, everything in life, problems, challenges, good things, whatever comes that's life. Sometimes, many, often here, especially in North America, people will say it's not fair life, it's not fair or not fair or unfair. Life is life. People here expect, have this expectation of happiness, that they have to be happy, right? Nobody, promise you this, what's
Scott Benner 57:29
your line of of a good day in Bulgaria versus here,
Sylvia 57:34
like, oh, okay, okay, you wake up. Are you working or not working? Working day or weekend. Let's call it a working day. Oh, yeah, working day, okay, you wake up, you prepare for work. You go to work. Most of the people, when they go to work, they drink coffee. They go earlier so they can have a coffee with their colleagues. They chat about yesterday, about kids, about whatever they want to chat. They drink their coffee, they enjoy and they start working. After that, they have at least one hour lunch break. They go to a restaurant. They enjoy their meal. They're talking with their colleagues. After that, when they're done with their job, usually five, and they go back home, or they go out to drink coffee, or to go to a restaurant on some or some cafe. People are out. People are outside, meeting each other, talking with each other, community, family, friends are very huge thing there. What
Scott Benner 58:40
do you think the difference is, though, like, do you think everybody here thinks they're going to be rich one day, or that they
Sylvia 58:45
no. People are not outside. Scott people are not outside. I barely see my neighbors. People are not when we came to Canada, we live in, you know, this typical neighborhood, there is no people outside. We
Scott Benner 59:00
think people should just get out, look each other in the face more
Sylvia 59:03
often. Oh, people have to go out, see each other community. It's very important, even back home, if someone say, I'm depressed, there is no such a thing. You what? You're not depressed. You're alone. Whether you're go out, come with us. Go out. Let's go out together. Your friends will take you, your family will surround you, or they will say, when we were kids, teenagers, and you say to your parents, oh, I'm little bit depressed. What you're not depressed. You just have a lot of free time. Go do something. Go to your grandparents. Do something, work, study.
Speaker 1 59:41
Do you think some people could be depressed? Oh, yes, yeah, I think,
Sylvia 59:46
of course. No, listen, this is very important for me. If we have very different view of life and different things, I can still be your friend. We can argue. We can have very, very, very different perspectives. I will still be your friend. I will still like you. I have no problems viewing and understanding and seeing other people, perspective and views.
Speaker 1 1:00:18
Okay, right?
Sylvia 1:00:19
So I know probably there is the people with issue, of course, no, no, of course.
Scott Benner 1:00:24
You're not telling them to just get up and get outside, but if you're saying for most people are just sitting around going, like, Oh, this sucks, or whatever, they just need to get going and do something.
Sylvia 1:00:33
I don't know. I don't know back home is like this, yeah, I don't know how it is, right? I I've I don't know. I have no idea people should do whatever help them. This is what works for you. This is what, exactly this is what for some people, medications will work or something else, it doesn't matter. The point is to not get stuck. Don't stay stuck in this, you know, state, yeah, even so probably it's hard for some people ahead. I get that. I get that just my personality is not like this.
Scott Benner 1:01:08
I find myself feeling lucky that I don't feel that way either. You know, just the the idea that, like you can run into a problem and just kind of gather yourself and pick a direction and go again, try again, try again, try again. Like I feel lucky that that's how I feel. I certainly know people who can get run over by things and have trouble getting back up again. And it doesn't seem to me that it's because, you know, in some people's situations, it's not because they just don't care or they're not trying. I think they Oh, yeah, yeah. They have real, real reasons.
Sylvia 1:01:37
Yes. Agree, absolutely. I agree. I agree. Yes. I also have
Scott Benner 1:01:41
seen people go through tough things and do what would be difficult to describe any other way than, say, like, decide to sit in it longer, you know, and not get up and get back out and go again. I mean, have you even imagined how are your kids gonna date? You know what I mean, like, where are they gonna meet people at and, oh, you know, it's a lot, right? Like,
Sylvia 1:02:03
I know, I know it's so different, but you know, this is their, their world, their life, they will figure it out, and it's not necessarily for them. To date, I don't know. No, it's good to have, honestly, it's good to have someone.
Scott Benner 1:02:17
It's gonna be hard, because once you're out of school, I mean, that's your last chance to be around.
Sylvia 1:02:21
No, no, no, my uh, my son still not. He goes out. He's like me. He goes outside. He's very social. Has a lot of friends. My daughter is more her best friend is in Texas. Really, the only chance they they have to see each other, chat
Scott Benner 1:02:39
is through the phone. Never met a person, never
Sylvia 1:02:43
and they're very close. They're so sweet, and they're chatting every day for hours. Yeah, and I feel so sad. I feel very sad why she's at home? Because she but I don't know, because my life was very different. I will go out. I always had so many friends, and we will go out, different places, enjoying our
Speaker 1 1:03:08
time. You think the internet changed that probably,
Sylvia 1:03:11
probably kids are in Thai, kids are inside. We were out, we were outside. What about COVID? Calling each other COVID, COVID was two years, three years.
Scott Benner 1:03:22
Yeah, you don't think that like wired people to no
Sylvia 1:03:27
so I don't think so. Kids, even now, kids, my daughter aged, they're at home on their phones, probably chatting to each other. They will have some sleep overs and stuff. But it wasn't like we did it at least all day, all day outside with our friends, our parents didn't know where we are.
Scott Benner 1:03:47
I often think about that. It's that they have so many options. I think about a full day of my life when I was 15, it was, you know, get up, eat, get dressed, figure out where to go, go somewhere, get there, the person you're looking for is not there. Got to go home, you know, like, go back again. You can't call somebody on the move. You can't text them. It's some it's there were days it took three or four hours to link up with your friends, even. And then you get together, really, yeah, yeah, okay, yeah. You know, you get together, and then you're like, well, now what do we do? You throw a ball, you walk around, you go to a store, you know, blah, it's not, there wasn't a ton to do like, now they have so many options. I almost wonder if life hasn't turned into like, you know, when you click on Netflix and you spend 35 minutes going through the movies and then don't watch anything.
Sylvia 1:04:35
Oh, yeah, I barely can. Can Find a nice movie to watch.
Scott Benner 1:04:39
I think it's possible that life has become like that, that there are so many options and everything looks so tantalizing that you can't just choose one thing, so you don't do anything,
Sylvia 1:04:48
maybe. But I don't know. My childhood was different. We we were doing very interesting stuff all the time. We were 20. We were 2030, kids in that mice. Treat. It was so fun. We were playing games. We were going on a trips in the forest. It was so nice. Always something was happening. Now I don't know. I don't know my my kids childhood different, boring for me.
Scott Benner 1:05:18
Is it still that way at home like, do you think if your kids were growing up in Bulgaria,
Sylvia 1:05:23
in small towns, in small cities? Yes, capital is it's harder to just let your kids be okay. I think that reason, probably here in small towns, is different. I have no idea. Probably that's that's also a factor.
Scott Benner 1:05:42
Yeah, I imagine it might be, did we talk about anything that you want to talk about, like, Did this go in any direction the way you thought I
Sylvia 1:05:49
did? No, I didn't have any plan. I just My plan was, my motives were absolutely selfish. I just wanted to talk with you, and I wanted to go out of my comfort zone to speak in English with on a podcast.
Scott Benner 1:06:08
I mean, you did a great job. I like I said, Your Your accent is awesome. I can't believe you came over here not knowing how to speak any English and and figured it all
Sylvia 1:06:15
out. So for me with well, it was amazing. I otherwise I I don't have a chance to speak with you, and you're very important part of my life, even if you're a stranger, somehow you're very, very important part of my life. That's lovely. Thank you. I really appreciate it. Honestly, no, honestly, I'm honest. Do you
Scott Benner 1:06:37
want to ask me any questions, or do you have like, is there like? I don't want to, like, cut you short. So is there anything?
Sylvia 1:06:43
Oh, do whatever you like to do, honestly. Are
Scott Benner 1:06:47
you wondering anything? Like, what would you ask me?
Sylvia 1:06:49
Wondering? No, no, I don't wonder. I listen to you every day. In many situation, you're in my head talking to me. Don't stare at the high Don't stare at the high crush it. Crush it.
Scott Benner 1:07:04
So you hear the podcast in your mind. When you're making decisions about diabetes, your
Sylvia 1:07:08
voice, your voice is constantly in my mind, yes, and I have conversations with you, even in my mind to troubleshoot stuff. I
Scott Benner 1:07:19
don't think that's silly, like, so I'm sort of like, I'm sort
Sylvia 1:07:22
of working for me, so it's not silly, yeah, no, of
Scott Benner 1:07:25
course not, right? So I'm like, I'm like, Google in your head, yeah? Something like this, yeah, you Google, but and it answers in my voice, but more fun, more fun. And then you interact with I have an idea. I think this was what Scott would say, yes, yes. And you kind of and you come to, okay, and so tell me where, where's your son at, like, where his a one sees that
Sylvia 1:07:49
Okay. Since the beginning, his highest a 1c was 5.7 Wow. He never had a 1c higher than 5.7 the thing I want to, I really want to say this, this is, I think that's very important, especially for newly diagnosed, or especially for people that wonder if it's possible. It is possible without lows, with great timing range and with great standard deviation. It's absolutely possible. And I want to say something the at the beginning that was very important for me. People that are posting graphs this straight, not straight graphs, but these nice graphs with gentle hills, those people saved me because those people showed me it's possible. Yeah, I saw this. I saw the success. Sometimes see some people saying, Oh, these graphs are depressing me. No. People don't get depressed. Get motivated. If another human being is capable of doing this, everyone is capable. I really for sure. Honestly, I'm super honest right now. I'm not a very smart person. If I can figure this out, I don't care how long it will take me if another human being is doing this, I will get there. Yeah, so everyone will get there. I don't have time to listen, I don't have time to read. You have you're not gonna do this forever. Save some time to listen and educate and after that, it will pay off,
Scott Benner 1:09:39
right? Yeah. I always hope that what they mean is, I don't have time right now, but I'm going to, and I but I also, but I also, I mean, as the person who's making the podcast, I agree with you. I don't understand. I've said it before. I mean, happy to say it again, like you're having this major issue in your life and you're watching some you know. 50,000 people in a Facebook group go, I listen to it, and it's making sense to me now. It's all there, it's laid out, it's free, and, you know, absolutely. And then you go, I don't know, I don't have time like, I think you'd be surprised how much time you're going to have after you make your way through it and get it all straight,
Sylvia 1:10:16
absolutely, yeah, not only will have time the confidence that you will get this is so empowering, because at the beginning this, I don't like when the doctors say they can eat whatever they like. I don't appreciate this. I will be more grateful if they say your kid can eat whatever they want after some time, not yet, you need to educate yourself, and then they can eat whatever they like. Because for me, it wasn't an option to go back home, give my son whatever and see this roller coaster. I said, that's not an option. That was my first thought, this roller coaster, it's not an option, period.
Scott Benner 1:11:07
Yeah, we're gonna, we're gonna figure out a way around this
Sylvia 1:11:10
exactly. And what I did, I don't know why people are have to get stuck in one way of living and managing and eating. Experiment, experiment, people you have all your life. Experiment, don't get stuck in one way. Try, try, try different things, and then choose your way. When we came back home after the hospital, I sat with my family, and I said to my son, I will remove some things from your food. I just need time. Give me time to figure this thing out, and after that, we will start bringing your favorite meals. I felt like exactly what I felt. I felt like I'm in a ship in a stormy water. I don't know how to sail this ship, and I'm in a stormy water. Yeah. So the only thing I could do is to remove the storm, take away
Scott Benner 1:12:14
some of these variables exactly, exactly, get me get my footing, and once I figure out the easier meals, then we can try to level up and try something a little more difficult and see if we can't get that as well.
Sylvia 1:12:26
Yes, yeah, took me months. It doesn't, it didn't. Took me years, months, and now we could.
Scott Benner 1:12:32
Yeah, no, I know I feel that way too. When I see people say I don't have time to listen, it does make me sad. I'm not gonna lie. I think the same thing. I think, no, you'll have so much time if you listen, you just have to get through this part now. Yeah, oh gosh. Well, I really do appreciate you sharing this all with me. It was lovely.
Sylvia 1:12:49
I do appreciate you. Thank you for everything, honestly. Thank you. You gave me so so
Scott Benner 1:12:55
much. You're embarrassing me, but I but I appreciate No, no, no, no, no, I'm honest. Yeah, no, no, I know. Don't worry. I don't think you're bullshit at all. No, no, no, I cannot do this. Yeah, I don't think you could lie about this if you wanted to.
Sylvia 1:13:08
No, I don't like to lie. I cannot be not honest. I just can't.
Scott Benner 1:13:14
No, it's really a pleasure. And for everything you do on the Facebook group, I can't thank you enough for that. Yeah, and I'm just very happy that any of this was valuable for you and that you found a way to, you know, incorporate it in your life. Yeah, it's a pleasure to talk to you, and I really am a little embarrassed, but I am, but I'm, I'm very happy for you. Thank you. You're very nice. Hold on for me for one second. Okay, okay, thank you. Yeah, thank you. Hold on.
Sylvia 1:13:42
You. Head
Scott Benner 1:13:45
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