#1445 Hippy Dippy

Summary

Juicebox Podcast: Type 1 Diabetes

Episode #1445: "Hippy Dippy" (Feb 26, 2025)

Host: Scott Benner
Guest: Morgan (age 21, diagnosed at 18, LADA/type 1, Canadian)

Episode Overview

This episode follows Morgan, a candid and engaging young woman with a “hippy dippy” upbringing on hobby farms in British Columbia, as she opens up about her diagnosis with type 1 diabetes (ultimately LADA), navigating healthcare in Canada, family challenges, and her evolving self-management. Host Scott Benner guides the conversation with humor, empathy, and personal connection, exploring how Morgan's unique life, health hurdles, and near self-reliance shape her experience with diabetes. The episode blends practical information, emotional insight, and a surprising detour into chameleon and reptile husbandry, maintaining the Juicebox Podcast's trademark balance of technical guidance and engaging storytelling.

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Table of Contents

1. Meet Morgan: Diagnosis & Background (02:31–10:50)
2. A Hippy Dippy Upbringing (03:13–07:13)
3. Family Health History & Birth Defects (10:07–13:17)
4. Navigating Diagnosis and Healthcare (13:43–30:09)
5. Living with LADA: Labs, Insulin, and Devices (17:41–21:17)
6. PCOS, Hormones, and the GLP-1 Conversation (21:17–30:10)
7. Healthcare Access and Systemic Challenges in BC (23:12–24:47)
8. Emotional Support, Family Dynamics, and Self-Reliance (31:44–42:06)
9. Learning Management: From Misinformation to Mastery (43:41–50:44)
10. Complications, Hormones, and Daily Diabetes Hacks (51:43–56:22)
11. Morgan's Outlook and Navigating Young Adulthood (59:57–62:29)
12. Life Beyond Diabetes: Hobbies, Reptiles, & Building Community (76:03–91:57)
13. Notable Quotes & Moments
14. Key Timestamps & Segments

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<a name="meet-morgan"></a>

1. Meet Morgan: Diagnosis & Background (02:31–10:50)

• Introductions:
  • Morgan, now 21, was diagnosed at 18. She describes herself as an “adult female… farm raised, so like really healthy immune system” (03:13).
  • The diagnosis “came out of nowhere”—Morgan had no regular doctor and was used to "sleeping off" sickness.
• First hint of family influence:
  • Morgan notes her parents are “a little crunchy, hippy dippy… they are hippie dippy” (04:36).

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<a name="hippy-dippy"></a>

2. A Hippy Dippy Upbringing (03:13–07:13)

• Morgan grew up on a “hobby farm,” meaning the family aimed for self-reliance—enough chickens, goats, cows, quails, pigs, and sometimes rabbits “for us" (05:20–05:44).
• Her parents met tree planting in BC, embodying the “helping the environment / good way to make money” ethic (06:06–06:40).
• Example of “crunchy” values:
  • Parents turn off Wi-Fi at night due to health concerns, which makes Morgan laugh about their reaction to Bluetooth devices: “They weren’t very happy to figure out that my Dexcom stuff is Bluetooth” (07:13–07:14).

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3. Family Health History & Birth Defects (10:07–13:17)

• No known type 1 in Morgan’s immediate family; her grandmother recalled children dying young, possibly from undiagnosed DKA (10:07–10:21).
• Some PCOS history (grandmother had an ovary removed), and Morgan herself has struggled with ovarian cysts and was diagnosed with a bicornuate uterus at 18 (11:37–13:00).
• Morgan shares a vivid ER story upon discovering the uterine defect.

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<a name="diagnosis-healthcare"></a>

4. Navigating Diagnosis and Healthcare (13:43–30:09)

• Diagnosis Details:
  • At onset, A1C was 5.7%, but symptoms suggest LADA/slow progression.
  • Ferritin (iron) was very low, adding to symptoms like fatigue.
• Self-advocacy & confusion:
  • Morgan ended up doing her own research and asking specific lab questions.
  • Initial hospital education was minimal—she was handed a generic type 2 pamphlet.
• Systemic Obstacles:
  • License for driving delayed by bureaucratic snags after self-reporting as type 1 diabetic (23:12–24:03).

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<a name="living-lada"></a>

5. Living with LADA: Labs, Insulin, and Devices (17:41–21:17)

• C-peptide disclosure: Morgan’s was low but increased upon retesting—confirming slow-onset, LADA progression (19:56–20:31).
• Insulin usage: Total daily dose 9–20 units, depending on hormones; Morgan credits the podcast with helping her gain confidence to try Omnipod.
• Morgan appreciates the ability to “give myself quarter of a unit just to bump myself down” (20:39–21:01).

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<a name="pcos-glp1"></a>

6. PCOS, Hormones, and the GLP-1 Conversation (21:17–30:10)

• Host Scott recounts other LADA/Type 1s benefitting from GLP-1 medications (22:41–23:00).
  • Quote: “If your C-peptide’s going the other way, kind of feels like reminiscent of his story” (22:41).
• Morgan asks whether, despite poor appetite, a GLP-1 could help her PCOS and insulin resistance.
• Scott details his own/family’s experimental approach to GLP-1s (28:43–28:58), warns of excessive appetite suppression, and shares DIY dosage hacks with sterile vials.

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<a name="system-challenges"></a>

7. Healthcare Access and Systemic Challenges in BC (23:12–24:47)

• Morgan describes months-long delays to see specialists or adjust treatment due to Canada’s single-payer system prioritizing emergencies (“if your problem’s not going to kill you, you go to the bottom of the list,” 24:26).
• She expresses frustration that non-life-threatening concerns (iron, PCOS, etc.) get “swatted away.”

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<a name="emotional-support"></a>

8. Emotional Support, Family Dynamics, and Self-Reliance (31:44–42:06)

• Morgan’s parents minimize conventional medicine, favoring “nutmeal diet” and “fixing” diabetes with food (33:05–33:20).
• She credits her grandmother as her primary support, discusses emotional abandonment, and admits to running herself higher overnight out of safety fears—no one will wake up to alarms (39:04–41:13).
• Past boyfriends, including a high school sweetheart, ended relationships after diagnosis—emphasizing her emotional resilience and isolation.

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<a name="management-learning"></a>

9. Learning Management: From Misinformation to Mastery (43:41–50:44)

• Community/Podcast as lifeline:
  • Morgan recounts how a chance encounter at work with another type 1 led her to Juicebox and the book "Sugar Surfing" (45:16).
  • Early medical advice left her feeling lost: “it’s trial and error… you’ll have to figure it out” (46:44).
  • The podcast and community bridged the education gap that local providers could not.

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<a name="complications-hacks"></a>

10. Complications, Hormones, and Daily Diabetes Hacks (51:43–56:22)

• Discussion of wild hormone swings, luteal phase spikes (20–25 units/day).
• Tips and observations:
  • High BGs linked to constipation and difficulty urinating, with numbers dropping after bathroom relief (54:46–56:22).
  • Regular peeing as a marker and possible contributor to glucose management.

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<a name="young-adulthood"></a>

11. Morgan's Outlook and Navigating Young Adulthood (59:57–62:29)

• Describes health management plans, hope for automated tech (Omnipod 5), and career/education interests (auto/trades, possibly biology/vet studies).
• Notes lifelong ARFID-like eating challenges, potentially exacerbated by chronic low ferritin and sodium.

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<a name="life-beyond"></a>

12. Life Beyond Diabetes: Hobbies, Reptiles, & Building Community (76:03–91:57)

• Lively detour into reptile-keeping—chameleons, geckos, and other cold-blooded critters.
• Parallels are drawn between diligent pet care and chronic illness management.
• Reflections on job identity, podcasting as profession, and unique life paths.

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<a name="notable-quotes"></a>

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Canadian Healthcare Delays:
  “You’re going to say, ‘Hey, I’d like to be seen for my iron.’ They’re not going to see you for a year.” – Scott (24:27)
• On Food-as-Medicine Family Mentality:
  “They believed wholeheartedly they can fix it... with a nutmeal diet.” – Morgan (33:05)
• On the podcast’s impact:
  “You’ve saved lives legitimately, and you’ve saved complications in future. So many.” – Morgan (53:59)
• Driving bureaucracy:
  “That was the stupidest idea ever because they told me I had to do paperwork and take it to the doctor, which I did. And then they give me blood work, which I do, and then they send that off... and then they’re supposed to sign it off. And then I go back... and they said, ‘oh, it’s going to be a little bit. They’re back ordered and it’s actually expired, so you have to do it again.’ And so I’ve done it twice now and still nothing.” – Morgan (23:00)
• On losing support after diagnosis:
  “I have to run myself higher than I’d like to… I have nobody that would wake up [to a low].” – Morgan (39:34)
• Diabetes, Podcasts, and Comfort:
  “I like to fall asleep to a podcast made by a 53 year-old guy who every once in a while talks about diabetes in his diabetes podcast.” – Morgan (19:24)
• On Learning via Community
  “It finally gave me a direction to go, because beforehand, I really didn’t understand much.” – Morgan (46:10)
• On High Blood Sugars and Pees:
  “...if I don’t pee, it’ll stay higher. As soon as I go to the washroom, it starts going down.” – Morgan (54:49)
• On Altitude and Hypoglycemia:
  “I could feel my blood sugar was going down, but I looked at my Dexcom, it was 10. I could just feel it… I tested and found I was at 3.3” – Morgan (73:12)

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<a name="key-timestamps"></a>

Key Timestamps & Segments

• Farm-raised, family intro & humor: 02:31–05:45
• Parental beliefs & Wi-Fi fears: 06:42–07:14
• Diagnosis, family support, and misadventures in healthcare: 10:07–13:46, 23:00–24:47
• LADA confirmation, insulin needs: 19:56–21:17
• GLP-1 and PCOS discussion: 21:17–28:58
• Safety net and managing lows alone: 38:54–41:34
• Podcast impact, filling education gap: 45:16, 46:10
• Bathroom habits and blood sugars: 54:49–56:22
• Career/future, adjusting for chronic illness: 59:57–62:29
• Chameleons, reptile-keeping, and life meaning: 76:03–91:57

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Conclusion & Tone

The episode blends earnest technical discussion (e.g., C-peptide, GLP-1s, insulin titration) with warmth, gentle banter, and self-effacing humor. Morgan’s resilience as a young person charting her own path—despite a mismatched upbringing and healthcare hurdles—is foregrounded by Scott’s skillful, emotionally intelligent hosting.

For listeners new to diabetes or battling isolation, this episode offers:

• Validation of the emotional complexity of chronic illness, especially for young adults.
• Concrete, crowd-sourced hacks for self-management, device selection, and advocacy.
• An invitation to find connection in community—even in surprising places.

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Transcript

[A]

Here we are back together again, friends, for another episode of the Juice Box Podcast.

[B]

My name is Morgan. I've been diabetic for three years. Upcoming in November here. I'm not sure what to say at the beginning really to describe me. Just adult female that didn't think I'd have to do this at 18 years old.

[A]

Nothing you hear on the Juice Box Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise. Always consult a physician before making any changes to your healthcare plan. I know this is going to sound crazy, but Blue Circle Health is a nonprofit that's offering a totally free virtual type 1 diabetes clinical care, education and support program for adults 18 and up. You heard me right. Free. No strings attached. Just free. Currently, if you live in Florida, Maine, Vermont, Ohio, Delaware, Alabama or Missouri, you're eligible for Blue Circle Health right now. But they are adding states quickly in 2025, so make sure to follow them at BlueCircle Health on social media and make yourself familiar with bluecirclehealth.org Blue Circle Health is free. It is without cost. There are no strings attached. I am not hiding anything from you. Blue circlehealth.org you know why they had to buy an ad? No one believes it's free. I'm having an On Body vibe alert. This episode of the Juice Box Podcast is sponsored by Eversense365. The only one year wear CGM. That's one insertion and one CGM a year. One CGM one year, not every 10 or 14 days. Eversensecgm.com Juicebox if you or a loved one was just diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and you're looking for some fresh perspective, the Bold Beginnings series from the Juice Box Podcast is a terrific place to start. That series is with myself and Jenny Smith. Jenny is a CDCEs, a registered dietitian and and a type one for over 35 years. And in the Bold Beginning series, Jenny and I are going to answer the questions that most people have after a type 1 diabetes diagnosis. The series begins at episode 698 in your podcast player. Or you can go to juiceboxpodcast.com and click on Bold Beginnings in the menu.

[B]

My name is Morgan. I've been diabetic for three years, upcoming in November here. I'm not sure what to say at the beginning really to describe me. It's weird. Yeah, adult female that didn't think I'd have to do this at 18 years old.

[A]

You're how old now?

[B]

21?

[A]

21. Diagnosed at 18, had diabetes for three years and an adult female. I like you Introduced yourself like you were on a form. Adult female, five seven.

[B]

A five five.

[A]

Actually, five five, I don't know, kilos. So I don't want to guess.

[B]

I don't even know. It's weighing pounds.

[A]

So you were. Do you feel like your diagnosis came out of nowhere?

[B]

Absolutely. I was farm raised, so like really healthy immune system. But we never went to the doctor. I never had a, like family doctor or anything. We just. If we were sick, you'd sleep it off and drink tons of water. Which, ironically, it was very bad advice for me considering it took a long time to get diagnosed.

[A]

Okay. I just. You made me think of that packaging. What is it? Farm raised, grass fed, grain finish?

[B]

Pretty much.

[A]

Something like that.

[B]

A little crunchy, hippie dippy. That's where my parents are. Yeah.

[A]

How does that work, by the way? Like, they finish. Like some people finish the beef with a little grain for flavor even though they've been grass fed. Is that right?

[B]

I have no idea. We're like small, small, like hobby farms. So we had cows, but we always fed them as much like non grain stuff as possible.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

So we got them good hay and Gotcha. We had a good pasture.

[A]

So, yeah, apparently there's a whole theory about feeding them grass but then finishing them off with grain before you slaughter them.

[B]

I don't know, maybe it's the sweetness and the gmo.

[A]

I have no idea. But wait, tell me more about the farm. What's a hobby farm? Because a lot of. First of all, how do you say your name?

[B]

Morgan. It's French. It's actually Morgan, but my dad's Quebecois and my mom's English from Ontario, so that was a very interesting mix. They didn't know each other's language when they met tree planting out here in bc.

[A]

Oh, they are hippie.

[B]

Very. They are hippie dippy. Oh, yeah.

[A]

Did that translate to you?

[B]

Not entirely. Other than I smoke weed and I have some similar beliefs, but like, not as extensive.

[A]

I gotta say, if weed smoking makes you a hippie at this point, I think that's bad. I think we're all hippies.

[B]

Yeah, we're all. We're all screwed. Not you, though. You're good.

[A]

Oh, you say that, but who knows?

[B]

I might try it.

[A]

I got my stress too.

[B]

Oh, that's fair.

[A]

So, okay, because I was looking at. I'm like, am I mispronouncing this? There's a lot of extra letters in your name, but Morgan.

[B]

There is Morgan.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And on the end of Morgan, Morgue Ann. That's the English way to say it, I suppose.

[A]

A hobby farm. Like, it doesn't make money, right? Like, you don't live off it.

[B]

No. Well, we live off it. It just supplies us, basically. So we have enough chickens for us, enough goats for us, enough cows for us. We got like, quails, pigs. At times we had rabbits. Oh, my gosh. I wanted rabbits when I was younger. And so I went to my dad, I'm like, hey, hey, can we get bunnies? Because I'd seen friends with like, pet bunnies. And my dad's like, we're not going to get anything that doesn't supply some kind of profit to the farm. I'm like, let's get meat rabbits. We'll eat them when they're older.

[A]

Meat rabbits.

[B]

They're delicious.

[A]

Wait, what kind of rabbits are good eating?

[B]

Flemish Giants. So they're a meat breed. I wanted baby rabbits.

[A]

Your dad's like, if it can't, like, poop on something and make it grow or I can't eat it. We're not buying it.

[B]

Pretty much, yeah.

[A]

So wait, your parents showed up in B.C. to plant trees when they were younger?

[B]

Like, they had left their houses. They did some backpacking down in Mexico. Separate but like at the same time. And then they also. They met planting trees up here at Queen Charlotte Islands and then they moved back.

[A]

Yeah, you're old enough now. Okay. You can, you can ask them. Like, come on, you just did that to get laid back then, right? Like, that's.

[B]

They're definitely not those kind of people.

[A]

Really.

[B]

It would have been like, oh, we're helping the environment and it's a good way to make money because I think, like, it's. It was pretty good pay. I think it's still pretty good now. I'm not too sure though. But I know that they said that it was pretty good back then.

[A]

They pay you to show up and plant the trees?

[B]

I think so, yeah. I don't think it was a volunteer process. I think you'd show up in a group and you get paid and then like, however many trees you plant, you get paid by the tree. I think is what my dad explained it as.

[A]

Less hippie.

[B]

A little less hippie. Yeah. But they are still like, oh, my goodness, they have a farmstead now out here and they like, self rely on most things and they've cut out. Like they turn off the WI fi.

[A]

At night and they turn off the WI fi at night.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Because of the waves of the WI fi being detrimental to the health. Yeah.

[A]

Oh, okay.

[B]

They wouldn't be happy to figure out. Well, they weren't very happy to figure out that my Dexcom stuff is Bluetooth. I didn't tell them when I was diagnosed in the hospital. I. My dad was actually picking up my brother when I got out of the hospital and that's when he found out because I was just getting back.

[A]

Tell me now that you thoughtfully, while being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, considered I shouldn't tell my dad this thing is Bluetooth. This episode of the Juicebox podcast is sponsored by Eversense 365 and just as the name says, it lasts for a full year. Imagine for a second a CGM with just one sensor placement and one warm up period every year. Imagine a sensor that has exceptional accuracy over that year and is actually the most accurate CGM in the low range that you can get. What if I told you that this sensor had no risk of falling off or being knocked off? That may seem too good to be true, but I'm not even done telling you about it yet. The Eversense 365 has essentially no compression lows. It features incredibly gentle adhesive for its transmitter. You can take the transmitter off when you don't want to wear your CGM and put it right back on without having to waste the sensor or go through another warmup period. The App works with iOS and Android, even Apple Watch. You can manage your diabetes instead of your CGM with the Eversense 365. Learn more and get started today at eversensecgm.com JuiceBox One year, one CGM.

[B]

Yeah, part of me did think that for a second it was more so. Now I'm dependent on a drug and that was the one thing my parents did not want for me.

[A]

Yeah, well, you get over that pretty quick.

[B]

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Pretty damn quick.

[A]

I like you so far, Morgan. This is going good. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

I'm very glad.

[A]

I appreciate you having a good headset too. What do you use that thing for in your regular life?

[B]

I bought it for this.

[A]

Oh yeah.

[B]

Stop it.

[A]

Stop it.

[B]

I know you have a quality that you want it to sound good and so I bought a headset. It was on clearance at the source because they're wiping out to a Best Buy and so I got it.

[A]

This is so weird. Can I share something with you?

[B]

Sure.

[A]

I think I'm going to cry.

[B]

No, don't cry.

[A]

No, no, no.

[B]

Not this early. I have more to tell you.

[A]

I'm having such a bad couple of days and then just to think that Like, I want this to sound good. I'll go buy a headset. It really, like. God, this is where I'm at today. This is. I'm. I feel so grateful. Thank you, God. I feel like now I feel like a hippie. Jesus Christ. All right. Oh, God, I got so sad for a second. Like, happy sad. I was like, she did a thing. That was so nice. Oh, okay. All right, let's get past this. This is ridiculous. Okay, parents, blah, blah, blah. I was going to make a joke about your dad planning one last thing before he got done. I'm going to let that go because you're 21, and then now we're here. So any other type one in your family or autoimmune stuff in your family?

[B]

No. So no type one that I know of other than. I did ask my grandmother, and this is where I figured it's probably come from. On my mom's side, way back in the day, there were some kids that died young. They didn't know why. I'm like, I'm willing to bet they died of DK and they just were never diagnosed.

[A]

Talking about like, a hundred years ago or more probably.

[B]

Yeah, something like that. Like a hundred. Even, like 80 years ago. Like, there was a few different kids that died young at like 11 or so in the family. On my mom's side. Yeah.

[A]

Okay. How about other autoimmune stuff for you?

[B]

Nothing that's been diagnosed, apart from. I don't know that. Nothing really. My parents are definitely not part of the Going to go get diagnosed. Typed.

[A]

Oh. Do you think your parents have autoimmune issues that they just don't?

[B]

They might. Yeah, for sure. Pcos. Actually, my grandmother, if that's considered. I don't know. My grandmother had her left ovary removed when she was younger because it wrapped around, like, 14 times. Yeah. And then I also had. We'll get to that. But I also had my own run in with it as well.

[A]

You had your own run in with pcos, I'm assuming.

[B]

Not diagnosed, but I've had an ovarian cyst.

[A]

Ah.

[B]

Twice.

[A]

What do you do for it? Is it like. What. What are we talking about? Like, harsh periods? Acne.

[B]

Yes. A weird. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Acne all over. Harsh periods. One week it'll be normal. One week, it'll be, like, heavy. One week, it'll be, like, just not there at all. It'll skip. Very odd. But I also have. And this is the. I did put this into the interview request. I have a birth defect. Oh, no, It's a bicornate uterus.

[A]

You know it's here, it says I have a wacky birth defect.

[B]

I do. Yeah, it's a bicornate uterus. So it's called the heart shaped uterus. It happened when I was in my mom's womb and apparently most people don't get diagnosed with it because they only find it after they've had like a whole bunch of miscarriages. But when they went into ultrasound, my ovarian cyst, they found it.

[A]

Two for one kind of a situation apparently.

[B]

So this was only two months after I was diagnosed.

[A]

Oh, that sucks. And does this mean you can't have kids?

[B]

I don't know. I haven't tried. I'm not sure how fertile or whatnot. I've not done like any tests or anything. I'm not interested in kids at this current moment in life. 21, still too young.

[A]

What is it called again? By what?

[B]

Bicornia? Uterus. You can look it up, it'll show you a picture. It's pretty funky.

[A]

I am trying to look it up right now.

[B]

But yeah, I woke up 6:30 in the middle of the morning in excruciating pain. Now of course women, we get period poops, we got to run to the toilet. So I thought it was one of those. But as soon as I stood up I started feeling really faint and like I started losing vision. I thought it was my blood sugar. So I went back to my phone, checked I was not low or anything. I think it was at like 9 or something. So it was pretty high. Actually figured it wasn't that, but I was panicking so I called my grandma. We went to the ER and they tried to say appendicitis, but I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no, listen to me. This is an ovarian thing. They checked the same day with an ultrasound and lo and behold, I was right.

[A]

Wow. Heart shaped uterus appears indented or heart shaped with a dip or cleft at the top.

[B]

Yeah, we're not sure how deviated it is because they come in various.

[A]

Yeah, well, I guess you won't find out till you try to plant some trees.

[B]

I guess not.

[A]

Some tree planting boy starts talking to you?

[B]

Yeah. No, mine likes to drive excavators.

[A]

Oh you have you found a boy already?

[B]

Yeah, yeah, he's pretty sweet.

[A]

Oh, good for you. And he drives what, backhoes?

[B]

No, like anything he can get his hands on big machinery. He drives mostly rock truck at work, but he bought himself a mini excavator.

[A]

He's got, like, a little backhoe in his house.

[B]

He does.

[A]

I rented one once. Oh, do you want that story?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

We bought this house, which is a very long time ago, this very tiny little house, and it had way too many trees and way too many bushes on it. And one of the things it had was this line of forsythia bushes, These bright yellow. They're very pretty, but they're dirty, and they just kind of grow under each other. They're like. They're unruly. And these had just not been managed for what it felt like decades. And they were just growing into the ground and on top of the themselves, they were a mess. So I rented a small, like, excavator to pop them out with and then a dumpster to put them into and have them pulled away. And that was going to happen on Saturday. The thing was going to get delivered on Saturday. On Thursday, I was outside kind of cleaning up, getting ready for all that, and this car pulls up in front of my house. It stops right in front of my house and sits there for, like, a good long time. Long enough that I feel like, well, I have to go down and say something because I'm either going to be shot from a distance or shot close up. Let's make sure I see the attackers, at least in case I live through it. I go down to the road, making it sound like it's very far. It was like 50ft. I went down to the road.

[B]

It was a track car.

[A]

Oh, my God. I got on my suv. Like, I had to drive down. No, I just went down. And I was like, hey, can I help you? This is old couple in the car. Like, late 60s, maybe even older. And they were like, oh, I'm so sorry to bother you. And the woman just gets, like, up her nerve, and she puts her hand on her husband, and she says, he built this house. And I said, oh, you built this house? And he goes, yeah. He goes. And then she's like, we lived here for this long and. And I stopped and I went, oh, my God, stop. I'm like, we found a wedding photo in the attic when we moved in. Let. My wife won't let me get rid of it. Like, my wife won't let me get rid of it because she thinks the person could be dead. And, like, it'll, like, you know, like some hocus pocus will come upon her.

[B]

Something's gonna happen.

[A]

But I'm like. So I run in and I get it. And they're like, no, my God, that's our daughter's wedding portrait. Thank you. And I was like, you're welcome. And I gave it to them. It was really lovely. And then we kept talking. And through the course of talking, he explained to me how he built the house. I actually, we tore the house down now, but it was. I don't know if you know this, but used to be able to buy houses at Sears. Does that make sense to you?

[B]

Oh, my goodness. Really?

[A]

Yes. You could buy them in pieces. And he and his brother would get done work every night. They'd go to Sears, buy the next part of the house, come and install it until finally it was done. Which explained why there was newspaper in the walls as insulation.

[B]

Oh, interesting.

[A]

But anyway, during the course of this conversation, he points very proudly to the line of forsythia bushes and says, I planted those with my daughter. And I thought, I'm gonna rip them out of the ground two days from now. But I did not say that.

[B]

Just let him live the happiness.

[A]

I felt so terrible. And I actually, the crazy reason why this is in my head is my brother and I were talking about this the other day because my brother feels bad about making a change to a house he's moving into.

[B]

Oh. Yeah.

[A]

And I told him, I said I felt like I was just grateful the guy didn't come the following week.

[B]

There. Yeah. Because it had been just a week later, he would have seen. He might have even seen them ripped out.

[A]

Yeah, he might have seen them in a big dead, like, wilting pile, like waiting to be picked up. But anyway, I used a mini excavator for that.

[B]

Did you? Yeah, they're fun. The first night we got it in, we're picking up pallets and stuff and just playing around. They're awesome.

[A]

All right, I'm glad you found it.

[B]

I found out my.

[A]

Oh, good. No, no. You found out what?

[B]

I found out my. My ATV key works in it. I have a Yamaha Kodiak 400 and it. Yeah, the key turns it.

[A]

You are very Canadian. You're not going to meet a ton of 21 year old girls here that are like, I have an atv.

[B]

Well, I got it from inheriting it from my uncle. But yeah, no, it definitely that going out in the bush on the weekends, that's definitely pretty PC of us.

[A]

That's pretty cool. Okay, so I want to find out more about your diabetes because people complain that I don't talk about diabetes on my diabetes podcast a lot.

[B]

No, fair enough. I actually have an interesting one for you.

[A]

Go ahead.

[B]

Oh, it's very interesting. So I actually wrote it Down a little bit. And I went back into some of my test results. So if you look back in February 27, 2020, my A1C was 5. 7. This was before diagnosis. I was November 16, 2021. So 5.7 seems pretty high for a young 6 or 17 year old. I think it would've been at the time.

[A]

I think so, huh.

[B]

I was taking ferritin test. I was at 12. I checked my TSH 1.13. For you.

[A]

Your ferritin was low for like before your diagnosis?

[B]

Yeah, February 2020.

[A]

And did you. And how long after that was the. The uterus thing?

[B]

That was after my diagnosis. So that was. I think it was January of 2022.

[A]

That was a lot longer since then. Okay. Have you addressed the low iron lone ever?

[B]

Not really because I brought that home to my mom. She goes, oh, you eat enough red meats, I feed you enough good foods, you have enough spinach, but are you.

[A]

Tired or weak or any of the things that come with having low firetime?

[B]

Definitely. I had it rerun recently. It was 43.

[A]

When Addie came on and talked about this, she said, the endocrinologist that came on to talk about thyroid stuff, she said that a woman of menstruating age, she thinks 70 is bare bones as low as it should go.

[B]

Oh, okay. I've been trying to say to my doctors, like, look, I feel like I'm iron deficient, but I just get, you know, swatted away because that's their listening skills for you.

[A]

It's buried in the thyroid episode with her.

[B]

I've got to listen. If I haven't already, I might have fallen asleep to that one, so I might not have caught the end.

[A]

Oh, I think it's nice when people fall. I. I fall asleep.

[B]

It's so comforting.

[A]

Is it?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. I'm glad.

[B]

I really like it.

[A]

It's so. It does sound strange, though, out of context. Like, I like to, like, I'm 21. I like to fall asleep to a podcast made by a 53 year old guy who every once in a while talks about diabetes in his diabetes podcast.

[B]

Anybody who doesn't understand won't understand. Anybody who does, really does.

[A]

I hear you. Yeah. When you find a voice that you like it, it is comforting.

[B]

It's soothing. Yeah.

[A]

All right, we'll get back to your iron thing. So where are you going with this story?

[B]

So, well, I started. I'm Lada. I actually got myself diagnosed LADA.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Now, they first thought type one, but I had my CPEP rerun when I was diagnosed, it was 147, which the way that we measure it here is like 300 to 1090 is the normal numbers. Okay. So that's pretty low. But recently I got it redone in May and it's 275.

[A]

So that's why they say that there's an indication for a lot of. Because this is a very slow onset of this type one for you.

[B]

This is three years after diagnosis where it jumped back up to just below the normal, like, low ISH number for people. So I asked the doctor, I said with this bulatta. And finally I got a yes.

[A]

If you are seeing your C peptide go in the other direction. And is your insulin usage fairly low compared to what you expect?

[B]

Oh, yeah. So I need the Omnipod. I adore the Omnipod. Thank you, by the way, for giving me the confidence to actually get one. I was too afraid to have something that would be constantly giving me insulin. But once I figured out you could back out the insulin, that was phenomenally just a life changer. I can give myself quarter of a unit just to bump myself down.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Where like, half a unit would be too much. I think my total daily dose is, like, on average between. Sometimes it'll be 9, sometimes it'll be 16. If I'm on my period having really bad hormones, It'll be like 20. And that's total, total basal and bolus.

[A]

So given that you have PCOS on top of all that, have you considered asking them for, like, a GLP medication?

[B]

That's what I wanted to ask you. I was really happy to be able to come on here and actually ask you. Do you think a GLP might, like, help me? Even though now the issue is, is I have poor appetite already.

[A]

Yeah. So I can tell you how we're trying to get around that with Arden. So, first of all, I know it's only 20 minutes in, but not a doctor, not advice. I really, seriously. I barely got through high school. Okay. But here are the conversations that I've seen on the podcast of recent. Right. Little girl, 15 years old, using like 70 units a day. She's down to like three or four now. I think her mom texted me recently. It's, you know, like, she's still barely. She's off her pump, she's barely using any insulin, etc. Guy that came on 50 years old, lotta was using a ton of insulin. By the time he was six years in. They put him on a GLP for weight loss. He at the moment is. I Mean, he's gonna need insulin at some point again in his life. But at the moment he wasn't using any is the time he recorded like. And so if your C peptides going the other way, then that kind of feels like reminiscent of his story. If you have PCOS symptoms, that seems reminiscent of my daughter's story. And it just makes you wonder like, what would happen if you added enough.

[B]

Like, would I go down like that young girl who barely uses any insulin and has been able to take off her pump.

[A]

I mean, I wonder. It's worth asking your doctor about, although you're in Canada, so I mean, yeah, that's my problem.

[B]

I could, I could try around now. There is a specific clinic run by diabetics out in a nearby town. Once the government will finally let me drive, maybe I can get myself appointments there.

[A]

Why won't the government let you drive?

[B]

So I had to do some blood work. I had to do paperwork for them to sign off that I was type 1 diabetic when I was diagnosed. When they gave me a pamphlet about type 2 diabetes in the hospital, it said on there you should tell your licensing provider. So I did. That was the stupidest idea ever because they told me I had to do paperwork and take it to the doctor, which I did. And then they give me blood work, which I do, and then they send that off to drive safe bc and then they're supposed to sign it off. And then I go back in a few months later to ask like, hey, is it done? I can't apply for my license. I can't do anything about my license. And they said, oh, it's going to be a little bit. They're back ordered and it's actually expired, so you have to do it again. And so I've done it twice now and still nothing.

[A]

So you do it. They don't get to it in time. It expires because it hasn't been looked at. And then they tell you to do it again and then it happens again.

[B]

Yeah, so I can't get a license. It's so bad.

[A]

I want you all to keep this in mind when you hear people say, like, oh, we should have like, you know, state sponsor this and state sponsor that. Because I know people who live in the Canada and yeah, and they have issues and they go to a doctor and say, hey, this is my problem. But if your problem's not going to kill you, you go to the bottom of the list.

[B]

Yeah, right.

[A]

And you're going to find that problem with that iron ask. Yeah, you're going to say, hey, I'd like to be seen for my iron. They're not going to see you for a year.

[B]

And.

[A]

Right. And then you're seeing it with the. Is it drive bc. Is that what they call it?

[B]

Yeah, Drive safe bc. What not. It's like just governmental. There's no actual building about it. You have to call them only. Yeah.

[A]

So there's that. And then. Yeah. So if you know a place you can go that is run by diet like type ones or type twos or whatever that you can go make this case and say, look, I know that a GLP medication is not, you know, FDA approved or whatever you guys call it up there for pcos. But here's some stories of people who've been helped by it. Also here's some stories who have been helped by this. Also tell them my story, which is I had low ferritin until I went on a glp. And now my body, because my digestion has changed, I believe is picking up my ferritin on its own. And I don't have a problem with ferritin anymore. I used to have to get.

[B]

I heard that the other day. I was wondering, I was like, wait, what is it that stopped you from having to get infusions?

[A]

I just think it's the. It changed my digestion. So my food. Because I am. Because your mom's right. Eh. You are eating enough.

[B]

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

But. But it's not staying in there long enough to get absorbed for some reason. And that's my experience. Right. I 100% tell you that I started taking a GLP medication. I lost just about 50 pounds and my ferritin level shot up and it stays up.

[B]

Now that would be amazing because like not feeling shaky would help tremendously because I've got anxiety and my anxiety symptoms feel like a low blood sugar and so sometimes I'll feel low when I'm not actually low just based off of anxiety. And then I'll finger check to make or gotten better at doing that first before just downing sugar and so annoying.

[A]

Well, let's what if a little farther. Okay. Because again, not a doctor, it's not advice, don't know anything, but interviewed a lady recently. I don't know if it's up yet. Maybe it is. I'm sorry, there's so much.

[B]

No, that's okay.

[A]

A lot of her child's bipolar issues went away on a GLP medication. I ask out loud if anxiety is inflammation related. What if the GLP reduces your inflammation and reduces your Anxiety.

[B]

I wonder. That would be amazing if I am the problem.

[A]

Okay. I don't know how much you weigh, and I don't know how things work in the Canadia, but, like, the Canadian possible that you're not going to, like, be able to be covered for this one way or the other. But more. More importantly is the way they do the dosing for some people. And we found this for Arden because Arden started taking GLP for PCOS stuff, and it immediately, like, ban. It pushed her insulin needs down 20% maybe. It was awesome, right. And cleared up a lot of her PCOS issues. But Arden was also one of those people who already wasn't very hungry, and then she just was not hungry at all.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And we tried just telling her, like, you got to eat through it, and she did, but struggled to do it enough. Lost what we thought was too much weight, took her off of it for a month so she could put. Put, like, £7 back on, which she was able to do. We were on a FaceTime the other day, and she goes like this. She goes, look. And I was like, okay. And so she got back to where she wanted to be. And. But right away, as soon as the GLP was gone, like, her insulin needs went wonky. And. And the biggest problem was is that the spike she was seeing at meals, you know, if you don't pre bowls do all the things, like, suddenly they were back again, and she had gotten really used to being like, it. Did she get bolas last minute, like, all that stuff and everything? Like, super, like, cool. So we're left with just take this and shoot this stuff. Because it comes in a pen. Right. The lowest one she was using. She's using Manjaro is 2.5 milligrams. And she's like, as soon as I do this, I'm not gonna be able to eat again. And I was like, yeah. So we took a little bit of advice from other people who listen to the podcast and bought vials, like, sterile vials. And then instead of injecting the pen into Arden, we inject the pen into the vial and then draw out the medication with an insulin needle and give her less.

[B]

Oh, I see.

[A]

We're in the middle of figuring out what dose impacts her blood sugars and her other stuff without taking away her appetite. Appetite. And we're. We're in, like, week three of that experiment right now.

[B]

Okay. Yeah, I would be. It would probably be pretty hard to get them to give me a glp because I'm not like, I'm on The lower end of the BMI scale. And so there's not really much. The PCOS might be my biggest thing, but then I would have to get myself diagnosed with it. I didn't go in the second time I had an ovarian disperse. I just knew what it was.

[A]

You're just like, oh, I know what this pain is. I'll live through this.

[B]

Like, I'm cold and sweaty and I feel like I'm dying. Oh, I had to run to the washroom first thing. It's first thing in the morning. I know what this is.

[A]

We think that happened to Arden while she was at school last year.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It's not fun.

[A]

Yeah. Because she's had one removed surgically.

[B]

She. Oh, yeah.

[A]

That was not fun either. And then the next time it just must have happened because she's in the hospital with like terrible, you know, pain. And it doesn't go away for a few days and it lingers for a week right afterwards.

[B]

Oh, yeah, it's. It's quite a kick. It. Yeah. Well, because it's. If it's ruptured, it's free flowing blood. So your intestines go, why are we internally bleeding? And it sends all those nerve signals. That's why it's so excruciating. That's what they told me.

[A]

Yeah, that's something. And. And that's. We don't really have a great way to treat any of this.

[B]

No, unfortunately not. But anyway, kind of kick in the butt.

[A]

Yeah. I don't know what you're gonna do. Sounds like you're. But yeah.

[B]

Yeah. But I'll figure it out. I'm still alive.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

I did want to ask you something about. I don't know if you've heard a lot of people talking about their beta hydroxybutyrate number.

[A]

What.

[B]

When they're in dka.

[A]

Tell me more.

[B]

So I looked this number up because I was like, why is my number so high? Your normal range is supposed to be like 0.3.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And when I was in the hospital, because I'm curious about, like, how close was I to really keeling over when I was diagnosed? Because it was a while before I got seen. It was a 7.62 and jumped to 7.77 when I was in there at night. Next morning I was back down to 0.78.

[A]

And what is your question about it? Because nobody really brings. I. I mean, honestly, I can't think of anybody bringing that up in their diagnosis source.

[B]

If you look it up. Beta hydroxy buty Rate could spell it if you want, but it'll probably autocorrect you. I believe it shows you how much, like, toxicity, maybe, or how much in DKA you are. And so once you hit, like, 3, you're in decay, like, full blown.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And I was at 7.77. I'm like, was I just my body somehow, by this string of gums, keeping a baby tooth in the mouth, like, alive when I was going in there, and the doctors were all like, oh, no, no, you're okay, you're okay, you're okay.

[A]

You're still talking. You're fine.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, I have a feeling I'm about to keel over.

[A]

So you feel like. Like you just want to know how close you were to, like, shuffling off.

[B]

Yeah, Yeah. I had gotten Covid a month and a half before I was diagnosed. However, I had been needing to urinate more frequently for, like, months. Like, my ex boyfriend, the one that dumped me. Like, was it three months after diagnosis? Lovely man, that one was. We'd been together for three years, and he started noticing at the very end of it that I was needing to use the washroom a lot more frequently. Told me, oh, I should get that checked out. It was like, four months after that that I finally did because I was. I was. I thought I had a bladder infection. I went in, no, go to the ER right now. You're a diabetic. And so I'm like, oh, okay, okay, okay. My grandma. My lovely, lovely grandma. I love that woman. She took me there and she stayed with me. She's the only one who came and saw me in the hospital.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Couldn't tell my parents, so.

[A]

Couldn't tell your parents because.

[B]

Well, first of all, they wouldn't have been able to come in because of the COVID vaccine thing. And second of all, just their reaction of me being medically dependent. Their first is to fix it.

[A]

How close are your parents to wanting to pray this away?

[B]

They're not praying it away. They're feeding me healthy foods away. They believed wholeheartedly they can fix it.

[A]

With apple cider vinegar, maybe?

[B]

No, a nut. A nutmeal diet. And they looked into some researchers and such that apparently had cures out of diet, so. Yeah.

[A]

Oh, your parents want to feed you ground up nuts to get rid of your type 1 diabetes?

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. So I don't get much support there, unfortunately.

[A]

No, no, no, no, no. We need to. We need to. We need to move.

[B]

Yeah. I'd already moved out, thankfully. My grandma's. Yeah.

[A]

Oh, I didn't realize. Okay. All right.

[B]

Yeah. Oh, my goodness. I think, honestly, it was two months after I'd moved out. My body held off because it knew my parents would have had me just sleep and drink water until I would have gone to comatose.

[A]

Geez. There's a couple of those stories, like, every couple of years that pop up of people who are like. It's usually for religious reasons they don't treat.

[B]

Definitely not religious. Yeah, very much like more so pagan.

[A]

Oh, we'll let the mother take care of it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Am I making things up or am I getting closer?

[B]

No, you know, you're. You're like, more spot on now. Paganism, Mother Gaia. That is their belief. That's the kind of crunchy, hippie dippy.

[A]

Jeez, how many kids they got?

[B]

Two. Me and my brother, who pisses them off because he's trans.

[A]

Oh, geez. Yeah, that must not be good for them.

[B]

Oh, my God, a snow.

[A]

Oh, did you say, oh, my goddess?

[B]

No, I was trying to say goodness, but I've got, like the. The worst. Try to put two words into one. My mouth just stutters at all.

[A]

Because I, like, call the episode. Oh, my. Oh, my.

[B]

Do not. Oh, my God.

[A]

No.

[B]

Sit. My head.

[A]

Oh, my God. Okay, so I. I have here. With a little Googling, et cetera, DKA levels can rise above 10 millimoles per deciliter or even higher. At this point, the blood becomes highly acidic, which can lead to severe dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, and ultimate organ failure or death if not treated. So it sounds like maybe in the Sevens, you were obviously high, but I don't know.

[B]

Not quite there.

[A]

Ready to pop. Yeah.

[B]

Okay, good, good. That was. Yeah. Because I had only gone in for a urine test because I'd called in for work. And then of course, they're like, oh, you need the doctor's note to be sick. Big corporate. And so I went and I called the 811 number because I'm like, I'm not getting a doctor's appointment. It's five o'clock at night. And then they told me, yeah, go into the walk in. So I did, and then I ended up in the ER from Monday till Friday.

[A]

Geez, when you get this diagnosis, I want to first understand. They give you a Dexcom, Is that right?

[B]

Yeah. Oh, my gosh, I love. Okay, the CDE that is here. Like, I'm in a senior town, so they have, like, four type 1 diabetics they deal with. They kept me supplied with Dexcom for, like, eight months before my MSRP or whatever the thing is kicked in so I could get my own fair pharmacare separate from my parents.

[A]

Wait, isn't MSRP manufacturer's suggested retail price msp?

[B]

Okay, yeah, leave the R alone.

[A]

Okay?

[B]

Msp. Msp, yeah, yeah. They. You have to have your own number in order to have your own health coverage. And I was still underage at 18 to be as I was still my dad's. And he's a contract like a tile setter. He makes a heck of a lot of money, but it's all like, cell phones. So he's got to pay his employee and his truck bills and all those things out of his income. So it looks on paper like he makes too much. And so they wouldn't cover it.

[A]

So this lady just kept like, setting.

[B]

You just did tester boxes. She's just handing them to me every time I would because they saw me, like once every two weeks, and then it was once every month or so, and it was every two. Well, three. Then it was three months, and then it's like six months now. Now it's, I think. I think a year because I keep forgetting to call them back. But I love them. They're super sweet. They don't have much information to give me. They just hear me talk, really. And then. And even before I found the podcast, they just listened to me talk, and I had no idea what I was talking about.

[A]

They're like a grandmother is like, I.

[B]

Don'T know what you're essentially.

[A]

I don't know what you're saying, but take a piece of candy.

[B]

Yeah. My A1C was at 6.2 because I was going up extremely high, and then down and then up and then down. So I was fibbing out the A1C test, and they're like, you're doing great. I'm like, I don't feel like I'm doing great.

[A]

Tell me, how did you figure out how to manage yourself if they weren't helping you?

[B]

Well, at first, like, I left the hospital, I didn't even know that I should be under 10. I mean, they gave me a pamphlet, but it was geared towards type 2 diabetes.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And so I. I mean, they made sure that I knew how to inject myself. And they kind of. I mean, they probably threw the information a little bit like, your. Your range is 4 to 10. But they didn't put any kind of emphasis on keeping yourself there. Like, you know about the complications, but they didn't explain that, like, the high blood sugar is what's going to Cause the complications, not the fact that you have the disease itself. And so I left and for a few months there I had no idea what was going on. I dropped in because I had a honeymoon phase on Lada. But like I had a more so honeymoon phase where I completely dropped down to like using two units of basil.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And like I didn't need to use bolus insulin for my meals. And so that was like. But only a year of it. It like, like a staircase went down. I would drop 2 units of basil like every few days and then it kind of hovered a bit on the lower end and then it started climbing back up towards the end of the year where every few weeks I would kind of need to go bit more till I kind of settled at the 10. But they didn't. Yeah. When I was coming out of the hospital, they just made sure I knew how to take the insulin. I had my type 2 pamphlet and they made sure I had my supplies. So they gave me insulin and they gave me dexcoms enough to supply. And if I needed them I could call them and say like hey, I'm out. And they'd give me some more. I tried like calculated. It's probably like thousands of dollars that they just were helping you handed me. Yeah. Without me. It was just really sweet. They gave me half those pens.

[A]

They understood your situation. They were trying to be helpful.

[B]

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. They gave me half dose pens and told me to get the cartridges when my insulin needs dropped really, really low so that I would be able to just give myself like half units for food.

[A]

That's wonderful. That's lovely actually that you found somebody to help you, especially in the situation you were in at your age and with the lack of like, like family backup for yourself.

[B]

Yeah. And nobody is there to watch. Nobody's gonna see my. Which is kind of sad to me because my mom was a midwife and so she is like hard grained to wake up to a pager. So if there could have been anybody to help me. Sorry.

[A]

Oh.

[B]

Figure out how to take care of myself at night.

[A]

Now you're crying. What the hell?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Jesus.

[B]

She would wake up to a low alarm at night where I don't.

[A]

Oh, I'm so sorry. You're funny.

[B]

So I have to run myself higher than I'd like to.

[A]

Just because you don't feel like you have anybody to back you up.

[B]

I have nobody that would wake up.

[A]

What about excavator boy?

[B]

He won't. He sleeps right through it. You think he. He can't Hear. He's deaf. Come on. The excavators ruined his hearing.

[A]

I'm so sorry. Not only did your family not look like a valuable resource to you, but you were dating someone who at the time who broke up with you because you got diabetes.

[B]

No. Well, he. You know how being high blood sugar changes who you are as a person and he created a different image in his head about who I was personality wise rather than realizing that I was going through and some other stuff. You know, been together for three years. So some crap had happened and couldn't get over it and we just. Yeah, he just blocked me on everything. Said I think we should break up. Hung up the phone and didn't say a word. I had to actually go to his friend to get a reason.

[A]

Yeah. How long did you dating? Three years.

[B]

Yeah, three years during high school was my high school sweetheart. I lost my virginity. That sure.

[A]

Oh my gosh.

[B]

Oh yeah.

[A]

He could have said goodbye nicely.

[B]

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I think we should break up.

[A]

Yeah. I mean even if it was like inarticulate. He was like, I appreciate you giving me your virginity and I have to go.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. You can like baseline. I'm like you. You were a good lay for a bit. Like something to hate him even would have been nice. But yeah.

[A]

Is it just the. The direct cut off is the worst part.

[B]

Radio silence.

[A]

Yeah. That is terrible. I have to admit. I realize it's very common but texting a person to break up with them is such a new idea that I can't wrap my head around.

[B]

Yeah, it was supposed to see him that day and so I was on the phone with him and then. Yeah, I was just over the phone. I'm like, you couldn't even do it in person.

[A]

Sucks. I'm sorry.

[B]

It's been a few years now. I had another dipshit X after that and then I got my little. My little excavator boy now. Tall excavator boy. He's not little.

[A]

He's not little. Well, I'm glad you found somebody better and that's a valuable part of your life. But I wanted to give you a second to get away from your sadness about your mom.

[B]

I appreciate it.

[A]

But at the same point, I mean we don't talk about this stuff very often because people don't bring it up. But you feel abandoned, I imagine.

[B]

A little bit. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. And you got your grandm. But that's really it as far as family goes.

[B]

I love her so much. She calls it diabetes. She tries her best to understand. And she's. She's probably the more of the knowledgeable ones in my family, for sure. But, yeah, it's odd.

[A]

Yeah. You really feel like. You feel like you're on your own and at a young age, too.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. I was diagnosed at 18, so I just graduated. Two months prior, I was getting my first job. I'd been at that job for like a month and a half or so.

[A]

Yeah, the thing that your parents represent here, the. Like, we don't need medicine, that kind of thing. Like, growing up for the first number of years, was it a problem? Was it almost like mom and dad are like, hippie, dippy, it's fine. But then.

[B]

Or was it even a midwife? There's a reason she hates the medical system. She delivered 500 babies in her career, if not more. And the amount of toxicity and corruption within the hierarchy and within. You've heard from all the whistleblowers. Yeah, they lost faith in the medical system. And so because they've never had to deal with, like, type 1 diabetes, they didn't really intake it the same way, severity wise.

[A]

Do you think they don't understand that without the insulin, you're.

[B]

They understand that. They know that. Like, because that was one of the first things when my dad, when he was upset, I told him, I said, I would have died had I not gone in. I would. I wouldn't be talking to you right now. And that kind of shook them into reality. But they still feel like they can fix me.

[A]

Is there really people online who think that ground nuts can. Is that true?

[B]

I think. I'm not 100% sure, but there was a book or something that they had read by a physician who.

[A]

I'm gonna look.

[B]

Please do. I'm curious. It was like a mixed diet, but nuts were a primary aspect of it.

[A]

I don't know how to figure this out. Like, what do I Google? Like, cure type 1?

[B]

I don't even know, man. Because, yeah, you'll get everything, including the one guy that told me a hyperbaric chamber would work, but, you know, I have to do it for a month, and it costs $6,700. Oh, yeah, no, thanks.

[A]

I can't find the myth that ground nuts cure anything. But Jesus. Also the hyperbolic there, that's like. That's a cult thing. Like, hey, you want. You want the protection of us? You just have to. Your daughter needs to sleep with the gu and it'll all be fine. You know what I mean? We'll let you right in. Like, for only $6,700. We'll put you in a hyperbaric chamber, make this whole thing go away.

[B]

Yeah. Cure it all.

[A]

Wow. Where did you meet a person who told you that?

[B]

At work. It was one of my customers, because I saw my insulin pump, and he's.

[A]

Like, hey, if you have $6700, I can save you.

[B]

Pretty much, yeah.

[A]

How many loonies is that, by the way?

[B]

I've. I've gotten a couple of the religious nuts, too, that come on. Like, I, I1. It just kind of scared me. The intensity in his eyes. He goes, I will pray for you. He starts praying, and just to God in front of me and, like, holds my hand, and I'm just sitting there, and the intensity in his eyes. I did not want to be subjected to this, but thank you.

[A]

Oh, appreciate your help. Here's your receipt.

[B]

Well, to be fair, though, this job did bring me you. I had a wonderful customer. I work in the auto parts department. I was selling this guy a battery, and he. I don't know if you noticed my Dexcom or my bracelet, but he said, my girlfriend's type one. She's in the car. Do you want me to go get her? I'm like, sure, sure.

[A]

Yeah, go hustle her up. Let's see what's going on.

[B]

So she comes down, and she comes back in, and I'm like, oh, no way. And we had a little conversation, and she gave me sugar surfing and your podcast, and I've written it on my arm, and it was maybe a day or two later I had seen the writing on my arm was nearly faded, and I'm like, oh, I should write this down before it fades away fully. And so I started listening to your episodes, and I don't remember which one was the first one. I found it really stuck to me. One of the first ones that I listened to was the one where you're explaining how you talked a lady through feeding her son food when he was high, but giving him the extra meal for the correction as well as the meal and catching it at the right time. And I nearly cried because I was like, no one had explained to me that I could do this or things like this. And just the fact that I'd found so much information at the time, it was like a thousand episodes, I think.

[A]

Yeah, sorry. Sorry about that.

[B]

No, no, no, no, it's okay. I was like, there's so much information. I finally feel like I have a direction to go, because beforehand I really didn't understand much. Like, I said, like, they didn't explain that it was the high blood sugars that cause all the complications, not just the fact that you have diabetes itself. And it didn't really give me methods. I went to my doctor when I was first a few months in, and I said, hey, what do I do? And he goes, well, it's trial and error. I don't really have a regime for you. You're gonna have to figure it out. And I'm like, oh, well, I feel even more alone.

[A]

Is it okay if I listen to a guy with a podcast? Is that fine?

[B]

I brought that up to them now. Since then, I'm like, I listen to a podcast. He's phenomenal. Deal with it.

[A]

You're very nice. I just had a kid. Like, you know what I mean? Then I. We were like, that went well. Let's make another one. And, like. And it came out, and we were like, two. We have two kids. And then a couple years later, we're like, how come this one seems like it's dying?

[B]

Oh, gosh.

[A]

Then we went to a hospital, and they were like, you know, it's. It. Your daughter has type 1 diabetes. And we were just. Wherever one of you has been, like, I know what we were doing. Rudimentary direction, sometimes no direction at all. And, you know, the first time. The first months were terrible. Arden had a seizure in the first handful of months. I was just following what the doctor said to do. Then you start thinking, God, this is it. Like, she's two, you know, like, she's gonna have seizures. Like, you know, like, we can't eat lunch. You know, like, everything is scary, and you're not sleeping all of a sudden because you're, like, constantly, like. Like, this insulin is gonna, like, either save her or kill her.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Every time. Like, oh. And, you know, like. And that's the life. And then it got desperate, and I thought, like. Like, I'll write a blog about it. You know, back. Right. Right at the beginning when blogs were, like, even a thing. And then I just was like, I'll, like, I'll beg people to, like, donate to things, basically. Like, I'll. If I can explain to them what this. Like, maybe they'll put a donation into this thing, and maybe somebody smarter than me will, like, figure out something is kind of how it happened. Then that's where community starts. Right. Like, looking back on it, I always kind of missed that piece of it. But, like, I met other bloggers.

[B]

Yeah, right.

[A]

And then they tell stories about things like, there's this lovely woman who I haven't seen In a decade. Probably named Lorraine. And, like, she's the reason I know about Apidra, for example. Right. I was, like, writing a blog about how, like, Arden's blood sugar was, like, bouncing all over the place. And she said, have you tried a Pedra? And I was like, I don't know what that is. I'm like, I have insulin. I have Novolog here. And she goes, novolog's not insulin. It's a kind of insulin. I was like, oh, okay. There's, like, more, like. Because in my mind, I was in the hospital and someone reached out with a vial and went, this is insulin. I was like, all right, this is insulin.

[B]

This is insulin.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, I'll remember that, you know.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And, you know, I remember the first time that somebody mentioned CGM was in a doctor's office. And, you know, I've probably told that story a bunch of times, but, you know, my daughter's nurse practitioner tells me a story about, like, there's these things now. You wear them and you can see your. Your blood sugars in, like, almost real time. And. And I have this patient, and she starts telling me about this kid who's probably, like, 17 in the story, if I remember right. And he got one and was super excited because he couldn't eat M and Ms. Without his blood sugar going up. And he thought he could figure it out. And then she just told me, like, he did it a bunch of days in a row. He put in the insulin, ate the M M's like normal. Watched what happened the next day. He changed the amount of time before he put in. You know, he put in the insulin, and he did this a few days in a row, ate a bunch of M M's, and one day figured out the timing and the amount that kept the M M's from causing him a problem, either. Either a spike high or a low later. And I just thought, like, I bet I could do that with everything.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. That's why whenever people, I see them, and they still say, like, hey, you shouldn't eat that. Because that's just. You want. You don't want that high blood sugar. You shouldn't eat that. But it's possible. It's all timing and amount. Scott's done it. You can do it and see.

[A]

And then, so, like, you know, I go along and I make these. Like, you start figuring things out. And then, like I said, like, people would come on the show, and, like, even you brought up sugar surfing. Like, Dr. Ponder came on the podcast, like, very early on.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I Remember when I was talking to him, I might have said it out loud. I haven't listened to it in a really long time, but I remember thinking, at the very least, oh, this guy calls this thing something. But I have a system, too. I didn't realize I had a system. Like, I knew there were these things. Like, if I do these things, generally speaking, it works out for me. And then eventually I made those into the Pro Tip series.

[B]

Yeah. Oh, those are amazing. There's so many people are so thankful that you created that series.

[A]

Oh, I'm so glad. And so you're just like, okay. Like, well, that worked. And then you talk about it, and then more people. Then the podcast gets super popular, and then people come on and they tell their stories. And then like we did a half an hour ago, I'm like, well, I don't know if this is right or wrong, but this lady told me this thing, and I just feel like Lorraine saying, like, hey, you know, have you tried a pidra? Like, so I'm like, I don't know if a GLP is going to help you or not, but here's something. Somebody else giving it a shot. I don't even know if it's worth giving it a shot, but at least you know about it and then you can decide for yourself, right? Yeah.

[B]

I've been thinking about it for a bit, and that was one of the things I actually wanted to ask you is, like, even though I have issues with appetite, is it still. Would it maybe be because I have most. Like, I'll have sensitivity points where I'm on extremely low. Like, that's when it's on nine units a day total. And then some of the days that are really extreme around, like, my luteal phase, I'll go up to like 20, 25 units an hour, and I'm still high and can't bring it down.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And just the amount of jumping it does with my menstrual cycle and the hormone changes, and with it being so irregular with everything, it's a nightmare to figure out when something's going to be too much or if I need to up it by, like, four times the amount.

[A]

Like, maybe you don't even need the new kind of more modern injectables. There's pills, GLPs, that have been out for years. Like. Like, who knows? Like, maybe you should try metformin. I don't know. But, like, you shouldn't just sit around being in pain all the time and having horrible, like, having your horrible period poops and Running to the potty all the time. It's not fun.

[B]

They're a nightmare. No, nobody likes those.

[A]

Nobody likes period poops. There's a kid's book. You're never gonna sing.

[B]

Definitely not. Mom went to the bathroom again. We don't talk about it.

[A]

You don't talk about what happened. I got my period, and now all I know is I'm not sure what's gonna happen when I get to the potty. Listen, I love women. And there are women in my house, in my life, and I watch it with them constantly. Yeah. So it's very unfair, I'll tell you that much.

[B]

Yeah, I'm sure it's a. It gets to be quite the handful when you have the girls sink, too. I love the Bluetooth uteruses.

[A]

I'm just gonna tell you right now, boys don't have problems like that. So I. Yeah, yeah. It's just like, whatever. But, no, you just. You feel bad when you see it happening or, you know, like, you know, my wife wakes up in the morning, I'm like, I thought you were going in the office. She goes, I'm going to work from home today. And I'm like, okay, I hope you're okay.

[B]

You know, just push the chocolate slowly towards her. Peace offering.

[A]

Here you go. Feel better? Don't bite me.

[B]

I'll be in the other room, please. Yeah. My new kitten keeps biting me everywhere.

[A]

You have a new kitten? What is the kitten's name?

[B]

Milo.

[A]

Not Scott. Okay.

[B]

No, I know. I'm sorry. He's an orange kitten, and I watched Milo and Otis a lot when I was younger, so I had to name him Milo.

[A]

Makes sense. Well, I'm again, just very happy that any of this helped you or has helped anybody. I think that's awesome.

[B]

Absolutely. You have done so much for the community. I know you don't like to take in the compliments very often, but you've saved lives legitimately, and you've saved complications in future. So many.

[A]

I hope. So I'm going to take it today because I can use it today. So thank you.

[B]

Well, there you go.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I wanted to ask if anybody had ever mentioned to you the fact that, like, okay, because we are diabetic, we have to pee more often. Right. Because the liver is trying to filter out the high blood sugar. If. So, if you're high blood sugar, you got to pee more often. I have noticed that if I'm fighting with a high blood sugar now, this might just be because I'm on lower sensitivity. If I have to go to the washroom and I don't go pee. And I'm fighting with this high blood sugar. I'm just pushing insulin in every, like, 45, 50 minutes because I'm on fiasp, so it's much quicker acting so I don't have to worry about stacking as much.

[A]

Right.

[B]

If I don't pee, it'll stay higher. As soon as I go to the washroom, it starts going down. As soon as I go to the washroom. And it's so annoying because if I'm sitting somewhere where I can't use the washroom and I'm watching the number climb, I know I'm not going to be able to bring it down as quickly as if I'm able to go and use washroom.

[A]

So is the question In a type 1, does the extra glucose in the urine during high blood sugars impact the glucose in the bloodstream? Is that the. Is that the question?

[B]

I guess because I wonder, like, if maybe there's. Think of it like an extra fuel tank. Once you've drained the fuel tank, then there's more room for the liver to push extra blood in there so you're able to dilute it out of the bloodstream quicker.

[A]

Okay, maybe. Well, I mean, you know, there's definitely things like I've seen high blood sugars with constipation, and then when the poopy happens, the blood sugars start to drop.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

That I've seen. And I.

[B]

Interesting.

[A]

Again, I didn't go to college, but the way it always occurred to me was that there's some matter inside of you. It must. It's got to be impacting, like, maybe glucose. I don't. I don't know. I could be 100. Like, trust me, I could be wrong. But what I can say for sure is that I have seen constipation. High blood sugars go to the bathroom, blood sugars begin to fall almost immediately.

[B]

Okay. Yeah. Because I see that with urination, and I feel like maybe there's something else going on in, like, my uterus, bladder area to do. Maybe something to do with the bicornic uterus. But I feel like I always have to use. Like, I always have to pee even if my blood sugar is within range. Like, it. It lessens, thankfully, like, if I'm able to have a good day. I have noticed I do. I'm able to hold it in for a lot longer. But, like, as soon as my blood sugars go to range, I am peeing every 30 minutes.

[A]

So obviously a person with diabetes gets Spillage into their urine. Right. Because you're like, you said, your kidneys are like, let's try to get rid of this glucose somehow. But does that glucose inside of the urine impact, like, your actual blood sugar? I. I don't.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I don't know. And I don't. I mean, probably not. Like, it's not connected your bloodstream.

[B]

So I wonder if it's like an adrenaline thing. Maybe even.

[A]

I don't know, all I can think.

[B]

The adrenaline of holding in it in, and then it keeps it going up.

[A]

And then maybe I look back on my early life with my. My buddy Mike, who's passed on and had type one.

[B]

I've heard you mention him.

[A]

Yeah. And he, you know, I obviously, with hindsight, had high blood sugars a lot. And one of my, like, enduring memories of Mike is that if we went to a washroom together in public, there was part of you, oddly enough, you mentioned your father being a tile cutter. There was part of you that thought he was going to piss right through the urinal, right through the wall and outside.

[B]

Oh, the force.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. From the force.

[B]

Oh, my goodness. Yeah.

[A]

Oh. Are we going to call this episode tile cutter? Maybe. Maybe Canadian tile cutter? Maybe. We'll think about that. We'll think about it. But, yeah, like, and I look back now and I think, you know, he ended up on dialysis.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I. And I always thought, like, I've thought in hindsight, like, geez, like, that high, all that urine, that high pressure, peeing all the time back then, we didn't. I didn't understand what that meant. And he certainly didn't. He just thought he was a guy who peed hard. You know what I mean?

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

No Internet, nobody to ask. Etc. And it blew his kid. I mean, his kidneys blew out. He was on dialysis for years before he passed away.

[B]

Yeah. Maybe that's what happened to my grandpa because he had type 2 diabetes and I know he pissed like a racehorse. You could hear him from the other room. Yeah, no, that.

[A]

Maybe that was a. I'm not laughing at your grandfather peeing hard. I'm laughing at a meme I saw recently that said, why can I hear my boyfriend peeing from every room in the house? And I thought, oh, God, does that happen to every girl?

[B]

Like a megaphone?

[A]

But the real thought here is like, you know, stability. Lower your variability. Keep your. Keep, you know, keep your blood sugar as in range as possible. Take that pressure off your kidneys.

[B]

Yeah. My biggest thing that I'm proud of being Able to do at least is I don't tend to sit anywhere above 15 for lengths of time. Like I don't have it refined too, too much because, well, at first few years here I was kind of flying blind and then I found the podcast and I've been finding so much helpful information. I've already been noticing a flatter line and able to handle foods more, more nicely. My high, unlike my Dexcom reading for the clarity, the high, high number is 15 and I'm like 1% above that at all times pretty much.

[A]

That's awesome.

[B]

Yeah. I do not like sitting and seeing an 18 at all. I will smash as much insulin as I can on there.

[A]

You've spent time figuring out how to help yourself. You're doing well with that. You've, you know, emancipated yourself to some degree and you're living on your own or with your grandmother.

[B]

With my boyfriend.

[A]

With your boyfriend. Okay.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

How have you thought about how to structure the next decade of your life, for example, so that you can take care of your health and, you know, be happy and build a life at the same time?

[B]

Yeah, well, I'm definitely, I can't wait for like Omnipod 5 to hit Canada. We're still waiting for that. Then I can have an algorithm. Maybe I'll get some better sleep. I kind of wanted to be a cde, but I feel like I, I have a lot of interest in diabetes. Of course I, you know, I do a lot of personal research and those kind of things, but if I made it my job, my career, I feel like I would maybe even lose interest in taking care of myself. So I don't want to risk it. So. I've always wanted to be a vet, but there's a lot of issues in the vet area so I haven't really figured out what I want to do yet. But I do want to take like a biology course in university to try to get back into school because well, I was gonna take a gap year but then got diagnosed and I didn't feel safe enough to move like out city wise farther away from little bit of help I had in the main town.

[A]

Right.

[B]

So I have plans to either trades because I am in auto parts and I have a high interest in auto body and well, I do live in one of the very popular muscle car areas of Canada and so there's people here that love their gassers and they're not going to change that. So there'll always be work. And with diabetes wise, I'm really hoping that Just over time, I'm learning kind of what's going on. I hope the GLP might be something I could try. However, I do feel like I'll start to see less and less sensitivity slowly as, like the LADA kind of settles into normal type 1. I guess I'm not really planning on having kids in the near, near future, so I don't have to deal with that extra stuff as well. So mostly just figuring out what works for me. And I can't do the whole, like, low carb diet. I have hard enough time eating anyways. I've got. I mean, I've seen it around and I'm not diagnosed, so I don't really want to say it, but like kind of an ARFID style where it's like food avoidant. If I'm not hungry, I won't eat. And if it doesn't seem like it tastes like, I won't be able to physically chew it. Like, I'll gag and I'll feel nauseous if it's something that doesn't taste good or I'm not craving.

[A]

Has this been prior to diabetes or since?

[B]

Not prior to diabetes.

[A]

You've had this forever.

[B]

Yeah, I actually lost. The reason I didn't really notice much on the losing weight when I was diagnosed is because a year previous during COVID I had lost like 20 pounds from just drinking tea. I joked, I said I was keeping my blood sugar steady and from going low by drinking tea throughout the day.

[A]

That's what you thought was happening?

[B]

I didn't know what would come.

[A]

You're like, obviously, I'm handling this whole thing with tea. Yeah, it works. You all should try it. I'm gonna start a blog.

[B]

I'm like, I wasn't eating much. So I'm like, at least I'll drink the tea so that you know. Because this was like way before a diagnosis. Like, so I don't get shaky and stuff and feel and feel. And I won't have any low blood sugar. I'm still eating something and the tea with a bunch of sugar, like a quarter cup of sugar. Oh, I was like, sugar. When it comes to my tea beforehand.

[A]

I wonder if your low ferritin has any impact.

[B]

On. I also think I have low sodium because I'm constantly craving salt. And every time I've had my tests done, the sodium number is like right on the lower end.

[A]

Do you chew ice?

[B]

No, No, I don't chew. It's never been that low.

[A]

It's never been that low where you're like, Chewing ice. Okay. No, I just wonder if, like, can low fart and impact desire to eat?

[B]

I wonder as well. Maybe. Maybe it does.

[A]

What's the word? How come I can't think of the word in appetite? Thank you, Jesus. Of course I'm talking about so many things and think about so many things that I'm sitting here thinking.

[B]

My brain functions really quickly. I like that episode you had with that lady the other day, or I listened to it the other day where she. Her brain works really quickly so everybody talking seems slow to her and so she has to like, slow herself down and try not. And so I just related a bit to that. I'm always speaking too quickly for people to hear me.

[A]

I have a little bit of feedback here. Don't know if it's right, but. Low ferritin levels can impact appetite. Iron is an essential mineral that plays a vital role in many bodily functions, including oxygen transport, energy production, and maintaining normal metabolism. When ferritin levels are low due to iron deficiencies, several factors can contribute to changes in appetite. Reduced energy levels of fatigue, altered taste and smell, hormonal imbalances and.

[B]

Sounds like every one of those marks is accurate.

[A]

Gastrointestinal symptoms, emotional impact, like feeling fatigued or dizzy, etc, etc.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

So you're looking for unintentional weight loss, lack of motivation to cook or prepare meals, difficult swallowing or discomfort when eating.

[B]

I feel a bit called out now.

[A]

Decreased interest in food or eating smaller portions than usual.

[B]

Ah. I feel really called out.

[A]

Chaka Khan, we've done it.

[B]

Not a medical, not a doctor.

[A]

Almost couldn't get through high school. Fell asleep. Missed 53 days of my senior year of high school. Just want to say that.

[B]

Look at you now.

[A]

All right, well, this is it. Let's get your iron up.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And either do it. The problem is I know somebody that this happened to in the Great White north up there.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

And they went to the doctor and they gave him an appointment like a year out.

[B]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[A]

So maybe we gotta get you to that clinic and tell them all this and say, look, I just want you to jack up my Ferritin to see if I feel better.

[B]

Yeah, that. Yeah.

[A]

And then once it's up, we'll test it again. When you watch it fall and see that I'm eating well and it's not keeping my ferritin up, then maybe you'll give me the GLP to try to help with that and help me dose it in a way that can keep up my appetite but have some sort of an impact on this PCOS stuff. And Bob's your uncle. We're all done.

[B]

Yeah, no, that would be awesome. I definitely have to get to that clinic out there in Verna.

[A]

How often do I get to say, bob's your uncle? And nobody says, what are you talking about? Not that often. You knew what I meant.

[B]

I know it's, like, common phrase up here.

[A]

I know it is, because I make a podcast, so I learn all kinds of useless.

[B]

I should have known.

[A]

Yeah. That's how I learned that from y'. All.

[B]

From us all.

[A]

Yeah. You stabbers.

[B]

Are we a staffer?

[A]

That's something we talked about before we started recording. So that's completely out of context now, but.

[B]

Oh, yeah, I suppose so. Isn't it? Yeah.

[A]

Also, that was the most Canadian thing you've done since we've been. Oh, yeah, I suppose so. Hey.

[B]

Really cold out now.

[A]

Do you know who Bob and Doug McKenzie are?

[B]

Yes, I do. They play as the moose and brother bear.

[A]

How? Oh, that's how you know who they are.

[B]

Well, I'm a. I AM A Early 2000s baby.

[A]

That's awesome. You know, I brought it up to a Canadian once. They'd never seen the movie Strange Brew.

[B]

I'm disappointed.

[A]

I was too.

[B]

So disappointed.

[A]

I was like, what kind of a Canadian are you?

[B]

Right? My uncle, before he passed, like, that was one of his favorite. Like, he'd sit down and just watch him for hours.

[A]

Isn't that funny?

[B]

Love those guys.

[A]

That's so cool. All right, what have we not talked about that we should have? Also, you and I should probably have our own podcast together.

[B]

Oh, I would love that.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Oh, my God. And I would love to come on again in the future as I've figured out more and more things, if possible, because.

[A]

Yeah, talking to you. Well, that's very possible. I really enjoyed this, but talking to you is the way I imagine talking to Arden on the podcast is going to be, but it never is. She's like, I'll do it. Fine. Let's go.

[B]

Aww.

[A]

Arden and I have been recording I don't understand episodes, which is.

[B]

Oh, you have. Oh, nice. Because I heard the other ones with Jenny that you just recently published, and I love them.

[A]

Oh, good. Jenny's and mine are just like, diabetes related stuff where we're like, I don't understand why this is like this. Arden's and mine have nothing to do with diabetes because I said, can we, like, throw in some diabetes stuff? And she's like, not if you want to talk to me. And I'M like, okay, so we've been doing, like, we have this long list of things. So where this idea came from was that Arden would say stuff to us like, I don't understand how money works. Like, we'd be like, we'd be like, what? And so one day I'm like, start writing these down. And she's like, what? I'm like, I'm like, start a note content here. I'm like, start a note in your phone. Every time you think you don't understand something, just go into that note and be like, I don't understand how WI fi works. Which, by the way, is on her list.

[B]

Is it? Oh, okay. You'll figure out what my parents are so scared about.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, we'll figure it out. Eh. And so you said a boat a minute ago. And so, like, I knew this would happen. We built this. It's really coming out as you get more comfortable. It's fantastic. Like, we built this long ass list of things that. It's an embarrassing list. She's like, I should not tell people I don't understand these things. And I'm like, no, no, no. It's gonna be fun. So, like, we jumped on the other day for the first time to do it remotely because she's at college. So I sent her off to college with a microphone. And I'm like, I'm like, we're gonna record every Tuesday at 3:00pm and so we jumped on and she's like, dad, I'm exhausted. My period's late, I don't wanna do this. And I'm like. And then she just like, the time came up and I'm sitting on the link, she's not there. And I text her, I go, hey. And she goes, hey, what's up? And I'm like, we're supposed to be recording now. And she goes, oh, oh, hold on. How do I get on this link? I'm like, you're kidding me. I'm like, it's in your email. Click on it. She goes, I'm not 150. I don't look at my email.

[B]

Oh, my goodness.

[A]

I'm like, okay. So she jumps on, I get her set up with the microphone and everything. And then we start like bickering and talking and everything. And just like that. And I'm like, all right. Like, what are we gonna do off this list? And I started reading stuff off the list. She's like, dad, I don't know. I'm so tired. And she's like, my period won't come. And Like, I'm just. I just want my period to come. And I'm like, right? And she goes, I got homework to do. And I'm like, just pick something off this goddamn list. And they're all, like, gems. And I'm, like, spinning them out. And she's like, I don't know. And then we just pivoted, and I was like, you know what I don't understand. And she goes, what? I'm like, the idea of being judgmental, like, it's like. It's so. Like, I don't think of it the way I think other people think of it. And so we started talking about that. She called me out on some things, and so we went over judgmental. Because between you and I, I don't think that me assessing what's happening around me and slotting those assessments against what I've seen historically constitutes me being judgmental. I think I'm just. Just witnessing things, observing and observing and putting this. And I made the point to her that I don't think it becomes judgmental until you inflict it upon the person who you're noticing. And she goes, dude, you're so judgmental. Stop it. And I'm like, I really don't think I am. I'm like, I'm not cruel to people. I would never, like, witness something and then go up to them and go like, oh, my God, did you.

[B]

There's no malice.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

So anyway, that's what we talked about. It's an episode that will 1 million percent make me look like an asshole for being so honest.

[B]

But, like, I'm gonna love to hear it.

[A]

Great. I think people feel like that. Like, we all notice, but it's not till you run up to somebody and you're like, yo, did you know you're this or that? Like, then it's judgmental, right?

[B]

Yeah. You start putting malice into negative connotations to dates.

[A]

Anyway, that'll all be coming up on the podcast at some point, and I think you and I should do a couple of those together, is what I'm saying.

[B]

Oh, definitely. Definitely.

[A]

I think that's where the podcast is going to go eventually. It's just going to be people coming on, going, you know, I don't understand this. And then we just start talking, start delving into it.

[B]

Well, hey, it's very informative. And it just keeps building upon. You can't, like you said before in other episodes, you can't say the same things over and over again and expect people, new people to come in and want to Listen, you gotta keep it interesting.

[A]

Yeah, I love it when people are like, you know, you don't talk about diabetes much in your diabetes podcast. I was like, yeah, there are diabetes podcasts that do that. No one listens to them.

[B]

Yeah, exactly. It's too hyper focused. You have to bring in the other stuff to kind of. Yeah, balance out. Like, I went snowmobiling on the mountain, and I figured out for the first time that altitude is not accurate to the Dexcom readings. In fact, I think my snow pants had actually pulled off the Dexcom I was stuck on because we have these. These beautiful. My future father in law there, he's got these beautiful, like, 2018 Polaris RMK 800 mountain bike snowmobiles. And so they will go up a wall if you put them there. I got stuck, of course, and I was fighting to get it out. And I could feel my blood sugar was going down. But I looked at my Dexcoms to 10. I could just. I could feel it. I could feel that I was going low. And so I tested, and by the time, because I should have tested instantly, but I hopped back on the snowmobile and rode another two minutes just to the very top of the mountain where it was windier and colder, and then tested and found I was at 3.3, and I had given myself insulin to try to correct that 10 that I'd seen earlier. So I was coming down.

[A]

First of all, your blood sugar was obviously falling, but I've had conversations with people where they say, I swear to God, altitude really impacts my blood sugar.

[B]

It sure does. That's where I noticed it for sure, because I just started going down. And then because of how cold it was, my one touch meter wasn't freaking. And so I'm sitting there, I've got five different people huddled around me. They're handing me full sugar, sodas, chocolate bars. This, this. Now this is like the family. So it's my boyfriend was there, my boyfriend's brother, his dad, and their landlord, which is essentially an adoptive grandfather for everybody. They were all huddled around me trying to keep me warm and trying to get my meter warm enough so that I could test my blood sugar again. Charles gave me his gloves, and it was just super sweet because, like said I, I have a little bit of support here and there. As much as they might not understand, they knew then I needed sugar. And Mike knows I've got my baqme in my bag, so anything were to happen, he would be able to apply it, though I don't think he's at all interested in ever doing that.

[A]

No one else.

[B]

He can do it if need be.

[A]

Not until you get. Not until you get into the fight and you're like, all right, let's do it.

[B]

Yeah, exactly. And you're like, oh, no, I gotta do it.

[A]

I guess we're gonna do it. What you said earlier is just really. It's accurate. Like, if you. If you sat down, you're like, I'm gonna make a podcast episode today, and it's gonna be about altitude and how it impacts blood sugar. And then I'm going to make the title altitude impacts type 1 diabetes. You know, no one. No one is going to be like, oh, I can't wait to flip that on and find out more.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, like, you got to have a conversation with somebody, get the note, let them take the story. Yeah, it comes up.

[B]

That's what works so well with your podcast and why you've become so successful is because you're not trying to force it upon anybody. You just leave it there so that people can come and find it. And curious cats will come and find it.

[A]

Really is my goal. Yeah, just let people talk, and I'll babble on about things I've noticed, and you'll either find something in it that's valuable for you or you won't. But there's no pressure, right? Like, the podcast doesn't cost you anything.

[B]

Exactly. You know, there's no timeline.

[A]

No one's forcing you to listen to it. There's no timeline. You don't have to do anything. Like, it's got ads, but you don't click on the links for the ads. Like, whatever I try to say in the ads, like, look, look, I appreciate all of you who are trying to support the podcast. Like. Like, don't buy this stuff if you don't really want it. You know what I mean? Like, I'm just. It's here. These people pay to put ads in the podcast. Click on them if you want to, but, like, there's no pressure there, even.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, like, just do your thing, like, and. And take. Hopefully there's something here. You just, like you're spreading flowers around, and hopefully people come by and find them valuable.

[B]

Make a little bouquet.

[A]

Yeah, you may listen. You make mistakes sometimes. And the same thing. Like, look, I misspoke or I said something that wasn't right. I'm sorry. You know what I mean? Like, I'm. I'm talking a lot here. I'm doing my best, you know? Anyway, I think net positive times a thousand Absolutely, Yeah.

[B]

Did you get two more chameleons, by the way? Sh.

[A]

What are you doing? You trying to make me sound like a weirdo on the Internet?

[B]

I. Don't worry. I have two leopard geckos, and you saw my crested gecko last night on the page.

[A]

All right, so here's what happened. And then we're gonna stop because Rob tells me these are too long.

[B]

Aw.

[A]

We had a whole conversation in the car the other day. He's like, I think 50 minutes is the sweet spot. I'm like, dude, I can't get anything done in 50 minutes. What are we talking about? So, long story short, my entire life, I wanted a chameleon. I never told one person. Last Christmas, a couple days before Christmas, we were all standing around in the kitchen, and I just kind of, as a conversation starter, said, tell me something. Like, my whole family was there. I was like, tell me something you. You've, like, you know, always wanted to do that you've never done. And everybody went around the room. It got back to me, and I just shocked everybody by saying something that they had never heard before. Like, I've been married to my wife, like, nearly 30 years. I've got kids in their 20s. I've never said this out loud.

[B]

Oh, my goodness.

[A]

I said, I'd really like to keep a chameleon one day. And everyone was like, what? What?

[B]

What? He what?

[A]

Hold on and say, what'd he say?

[B]

This one wants a what?

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hold on, hold on. What was the a Kama? And I'm like, yeah. And started talking about, like, they're so. I find them very relaxing.

[B]

They are. They force you to move slower and kind of breathe and think. You move fast, you could hurt them.

[A]

Even while you and I are talking, I can see one of them just moving so slowly through his enclosure, right? And it's very relaxing. And plus, they're difficult to keep. So then the question was, like, why have you never done this before? Like, you know, like, we're not wealthy, but we could put a cage together and throw a chameleon in it. Why would you never have done it? And I said, they're very. Their care is incredibly difficult. And I just. That caregivers thing that you. You guys get off me from the podcast, like, it extends to everything. I don't want to let anything down. Probably because my parents are divorced.

[B]

Big mama Bear.

[A]

Yeah, my parents are divorced. Like, you know, there's probably reasons, but, like, I don't want to let anything down. And the next day, my wife sends Me off right before Christmas with a list of things to do. And one of them is, they'll, like, whip through a pet store and buy, like. Like, stocking stuff or stuff for our dogs. And I'm in there, and as I'm walking out with my handful, and I'm also a boy, so I'm irritated that I'm buying stocking stuffers for dog. They don't care. There's already a basket of toys. We just throw them back on the floor. You know what I mean? But my wife's like, no, they need something to open. I'm like, they're dogs. I'm pretty sure they don't, but whatever. And so, like, I'm walking out of the pet store, and I hear this, and I look over, and there's this little baby chameleon, like, walked past. And it was, like, shocked by me, and it was like, hey, what's the buddy? And so I got home, and I said to my wife, I was the craziest goddamn thing. I have never in my life seen a chameleon in a pet store.

[B]

But there was one right there after I bought it.

[A]

2 seconds. I mentioned it in passing. I do not bring it up again. I didn't say, y' all should go buy it for me. I didn't say anything like that, right? So then Christmas morning comes, and we're all done with our gifts, and the dogs have opened up their squeaky toys, and of course, and Arden goes, hey, there's one more gift for you, but you got to come up to my room for it. And I was like, what the hell? So we all get up and start moving to her room, because when my wife started moving, I was like, something's happening. Because this is the point. In the morning, she wasn't going to get up again, you know? And I was like, why is every. And I go up, and as they're opening the door, I think to myself, oh, my God, it's going to be a chameleon.

[B]

Oh, you do.

[A]

Don't be a chameleon. I don't know how to take care of a chameleon. The thing's going to die in five seconds, right? And I opened the door, and they're like, we got a chameleon. And I was like. And I went like, I'm a dad. I'm like, oh, my God. Thank you. This is awesome. The voice in my head is like.

[B]

You motherfuckers, why did you do this?

[A]

But I'm like, that's so nice. Thank you. But I just Realized in that moment, I'm like, I'm gonna have to now give over. And it ended up being a solid month of, like, YouTube videos and delving right into it, just trying to figure everything out.

[B]

Which, by the way, not everybody would do that. It's so sweet that you check out like that.

[A]

I'm. Kill this chameleon. I can't do.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

By the way, that's where. And I always hope the guy hears it one day. I found the chameleon equivalent of me.

[B]

Oh, dear. Did you?

[A]

Strangest goddamn thing. Like, like, there he is, like, with, like, a lot of the basic ways that I think of talking to people, he's doing the same thing and spreading. Trying his best to spread good information. And he's even got, like, people who don't like the way he does it. And, like. And I'm like, oh, my God.

[B]

I'm like, this is exactly the same.

[A]

It's like I'm looking into, like, a mirror, and instead of me looking back, it's a guy who's like, I'm saying all the same things about chameleons and having all the same experiences about chameleons that you're having in diabetes. My God. So bizarre, you know? But anyway, I learned how to take care of the chameleon. She is the Most well pampered $75 pet store chameleon you've ever seen in your life. Like, she's living a better life than we are.

[B]

I'm glad to hear.

[A]

Yeah. Doing great. But. But it is not long after that that I think this is not the kind of chameleon I wanted. Oh, no.

[B]

Oh, no. So that's why.

[A]

Oh. So I was like, okay, no big deal, Right? She's gonna live, like, six, seven years, and I'll get another one. And then one day, I was like, yeah, I'm 52. Seven years from now, I'm gonna be 59. Am I gonna really buy a chameleon when I'm 59? And I was like. Like, probably not. And I just relegated myself to the idea that I just, like, maybe that's not gonna happen, you know?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But I did look around in the meantime, and I found this breeder in California who breeds the kinds of chameleons that I wanted. And his stuff is like, man, his animals are really wonderful, you know?

[B]

Oh, good to me.

[A]

And he has, like, this. This success breeding them where it's not a thing that people do well breeding. Right. Because I think these eggs take almost two years to actually gestate. And a hatch. Oh, wow. Like, this real. Like, the whole thing? Like, yeah, it's a whole thing. And he has a lot of success with it. So I bookmark his site and I'm like, well, when I'm ready, I'm gonna go figure this out. And then I look at his site one day because it pops up in front of me and because I followed it on Facebook, and he's like, well, here's my last hatchlings. You know, so sad to say, I don't think I'm gonna be breeding these chameleons anymore.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

And I'm like, you mother. And I was like.

[B]

I was like, so now I have to.

[A]

So now I'm sitting in this chair thinking, am I gonna buy another chameleon? Because I'm an adult? And that seems ridiculous, but you're an.

[B]

Adult and you can buy another chameleon.

[A]

I'm gonna do it. Like, so.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Anyway, so I have this again, like a. Literally, like a pet store veiled chameleon. She's so nasty. Like, she won't let me anywhere near her. Like, she's just like, she.

[B]

She's.

[A]

I've tried to explain to her that this great life she's living is because of me. And she could maybe because you love.

[B]

Her and you care about her and not to attack you.

[A]

She don't seem to care about that. Also, this is how my wife treats me, too. So I'm used to it. And then I have a Parsons chameleon.

[B]

Oh.

[A]

Which will live 12 to 15 years and grow up to maybe as much as 24 inches long.

[B]

Oh, cool. Yeah. My geckos will live to be about 15 to 20 years long as well. I've got one that was supposed to be incubated, a female. Turned out he was a male. Not only that, he's a giant leopard gecko. So he's 30 grams heavier than he, like a normal gecko is.

[A]

And that's a male. Does that get up to almost a foot long?

[B]

He's not quite a foot long, but I brought him to the vet clinic because he had a hemipenis prolapse and so they had to go and pop it back in. Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

And do you feel comfortable doing that yourself?

[B]

We've ever seen. I had to do it myself, actually.

[A]

Oh.

[B]

A few weeks afterwards, he did it again. And so because I had seen what they did, I'm like, I'm not going to spend another 375. 75. I gave him a soak and I did what they did. And he was okay. And he hasn't had it happen again. That was maybe a year ago.

[A]

Nice. But he's the biggest leopard gecko they.

[B]

Ever saw, the biggest leper gecko they've ever seen. And he's that big boy. I got him a 40 gallon tank. Even though, like, the 20 is generally the normal size for them. Like, no, we're going big.

[A]

My niece just rescued a leopard gecko.

[B]

They are so sweet. They're one of the best temperaments. And you know what? They poop in a corner. They are one of the cleanest, if not the cleanest reptile you could own, because they pick one corner and they will poop in that corner.

[A]

I have bioactive setups for my chameleons. So they poop on the ground and then.

[B]

And then it just gets kind of.

[A]

Taken in at night. The isopods and the springtails come along and eat it all.

[B]

That's what I was talking with the lady on the Facebook page last night. I want to do a bioactive tank for my crested gecko, because I didn't know you could have some of my favorite plants there inside the tank.

[A]

Yeah, it's actually nice because basically I have a little arboretum in here with me and it happens to have things crawling through it. So anyway, so what ended up happening for the third one, just so you understand, is that, like, I became really interested in it and I paid more attention. And it turns out I live very close to one, the only guy, one of two guys in the country that breeds these tiny little carpet chameleons. Now, they only live. They only live like two or three years. They have a much shorter life, but they also require a much smaller enclosure, which I have space for. So I was like, I'm gonna get a carpet chameleon too.

[B]

So how big are they?

[A]

She's probably like 7 inches long, like, tip of her tail to her snout right now. But she's gonna get. She'll get. Her body's gonna get bigger. But I don't think her overall.

[B]

Like, she's tiny and probably around the size of Apollo.

[A]

Then she's super colorful and like, like growing great and everything. But I just. I come in here in the morning, I feed them, and, like, while I'm recording or working, I just. Just like. I don't know, like, he's looking at me right now. Like, he's walking across the branch and he's looking at me like, are you gonna kill me? I'll hold really still for a second to be sure you're not Gonna kill me.

[B]

Oh, my goodness.

[A]

That's how they live their whole life. They just, like, they just.

[B]

In fear.

[A]

Yeah. It's why they want to be up high, you know? So then he's like, all right, nothing's gonna kill me. Then he'll take a couple more steps.

[B]

I love their little mittens as they grab around things.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

They're so, so cute.

[A]

Well, they're cute on the little one. The big one, like, makes scary. He's strong. He's. He could grow. He could grow to 500 grams.

[B]

Oh, my.

[A]

Yeah. So he's 300 now, and he's a year old.

[B]

Oh, mine's. Mine's 130. Alaska. He's the big boy. And that's, like, my biggest reptile.

[A]

Yeah. You'd be stunned by this. He looks like a dinosaur.

[B]

Oh, my goodness. My brother had a blue tongue skink. That was cool.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

She passed away, unfortunately, so I had.

[A]

To stop looking online at things because.

[B]

The crocodile skinks are expensive, but they're my favorite skink.

[A]

Yeah. Because I saw one day, I'm like, these crocodile skinks are so cool. I know you can't, like, house things together. Like, you can't.

[B]

You know, you can't.

[A]

So if you could, then I know I'd have, like, set in salt, like a fish tank.

[B]

You just. Huge. One side of the wall of the room. Good to go.

[A]

Yeah. But anyway, this is it for me. I'm good.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. Three is enough.

[A]

Yeah. It's pretty embarrassing. I will. I will take a photo.

[B]

More chameleons than kids.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. That's the whole thing. But I'll take a photo of this enclosure for you and send it to you when we get off so you can see it.

[B]

So I would love that.

[A]

Listen, she's great. The veiled. And. And I do love her because she runs all over the place and she has a terrible attitude. So it's fun, but. Yeah, but he's just, like. He's the one I wanted, like, when I was a kid. This is the chameleon.

[B]

I imagine that was your dream chameleon having.

[A]

Yeah. Or I wouldn't have. You know, they didn't know that. And.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Anyway, I should end this story by saying it's, like, one of the nicest things anyone's ever done for me was.

[B]

Like, that's really sweet.

[A]

Yeah. Go get that. But I'm a.

[B]

Now I'm a rep.

[A]

I'm. I don't think I could do a snake. I have to be perfectly honest.

[B]

No, I mean, I I love snakes, but I. My mom's terrified of snakes, so that was kind of never an option. And then I just. I love my little critters that can walk on feet and kind of travel a bit easier and not get themselves stuck in places.

[A]

Yeah. I do have to admit, though, and they're very common pets, but people who have bearded dragons.

[B]

My brother. Yeah. He's had two so far. They're really common, but they're more upkeep than people realize.

[A]

Yeah. I. That the one thing about the chameleons that you wouldn't know until you really. Until you dig completely deep into everything they need, is that everything they need, with the. Almost. With the exception of food, you can automate.

[B]

Oh.

[A]

So, like, basically what happens here, using the Parsons as an example, there's a misting system in his cage. Right.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Comes on and it mists him and so that he can drink if he wants to drink from leaves, generally speaking. He doesn't need to drink, though, because there's also a fogger that brings up his humidity at night. And then he actually hydrates through breathing in the fog. But they don't.

[B]

Oh, cool. Yeah. They don't like to drink as much, do they, from a bowl?

[A]

There's no standing water in any chameleon's cages, like for drink.

[B]

Oh, cool.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So they just intake it from their.

[A]

Environment, they breathe it in, and that's how they get it in. So if you fog them to the right level for the right. Right time, they're hydrated. Right. And then the cages have fans on them that are on timers for airflow. They have lights that are on timers for UVB and for. And for regular light. So with the. With the exception of having to put the food in, you know, if you go away for a couple of days or something, like, they get everything they need still. And then.

[B]

That's one thing I do like about the leopard geckos. They only eat every two to three days.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And so as long as they've got their standing water there, they're okay.

[A]

Right.

[B]

If I go off for like a weekend camping trip or something like that.

[A]

I went away for a week recently and we just had like a pet sitter came in and just fed them.

[B]

Yeah, those are. That would be really nice. I don't have long enough vacations to ever need one of those, thankfully. But that's one of the reasons that they're awesome, too, because my brother knows how to take care of them.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Since he's had reptiles himself as well. So he's always been my carer whenever I was gone for over a week.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, That's. It's. Anyway, I could talk about it forever because I do find it. I do find it incredible. React like just incredibly, like, reflective and relaxing to be around.

[B]

They are.

[A]

Yeah. He's staring at me right now like he. I'm. Here's what this stare means. I'm pretty certain. Bring a roach over here and give it to me.

[B]

I am hungry. Where's the food?

[A]

And I imagine now people listening are like, did he say roach?

[B]

But yeah, no, the roaches. Mealworms is what, Mine? That's mine. Roaches are illegal up here. The dubious.

[A]

Yeah, Yeah. I have a small bin of them and I'm letting them breed because they're so expensive. I'm like, I don't want to buy them all the time.

[B]

The mealworms are pretty decently priced, but you can. You can multiply them. Five. I had 500 count probably sitting in this one tub. And it. I just kept cycling them. I didn't pay leopard gecko food for a year. Yeah. Until my breeding system died off. I have to make a new one.

[A]

Yeah. You don't realize when you buy a reptile, you're about to become a bug breeder and you don't.

[B]

Oh, yeah. Part of the first thought. You figure that out afterwards.

[A]

So now I'm 53, and when people say, do you do for a living? I go, I make a podcast. And then they say, and what do you do for fun? I go, I have a chameleon. And I'm like, oh, my God. I shouldn't tell people any of this. Yeah. Do you know what it's like to tell other adults you have a podcast?

[B]

Oh, I'd imagine it's. It's probably. You get a lot of questioning looks and they just don't understand. Frustrating a little bit, too, because you can't quite convey how important the podcast is to everybody because it's like 15 million downloads. It's a huge amount.

[A]

Yeah. Also, it's 17 and a half now, but thank you.

[B]

You. Wow. Congratulations. I push it wherever I can. Like, if somebody's saying anything like, I don't understand, I'm like, just watch podcast.

[A]

I appreciate it. Yeah. No, but it is really strange because it's not a job. I mean, like, for most people, they're like, wait, what did you say? Yeah, it's like telling somebody you're the tight end for the bills. Like, yeah, like, it sounds ridiculous. Like, no, that's not Money off of that.

[B]

Like a livable weight.

[A]

Yeah, that's the other thing. They're like, any reasonable adult later goes, goes, I'm sorry. And this, it generates income.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

And I'm like, yeah, I'm like, I'm like, you know, I don't think I'm gonna like, buy the Taj Mahal anytime soon, but like, but it keeps the.

[B]

Everything running and you have a livable wage. And so I had people complaining is one of the things that I've seen as well.

[A]

Yeah. My wife has a job too, but like, it. It helps pay the bills and I get to save a little money at the end. And, you know, I'm living my life.

[B]

I have three chameleons who are very happy little spoiled babies.

[A]

I can afford Dubia roaches.

[B]

That too. Which I don't even know how much those cost.

[A]

Well, that's why I'm bring reading them, because they weren't too Eric. Then they do get inquisitive. They're like, I don't understand, like, why is that a viable way to like, why is that a job? You know?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then when you explain it, they go, oh, oh, that sounds great.

[B]

You've hit a niche where you just. You got it, you rolled with it, and you've managed to keep it going.

[A]

It's funny, amazing for it not to be on purpose too.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. Because you just started a blog and then you started making a podcast. Because back in. Whenever you started. Was it 2010? Around then, it was popular podcast.

[A]

In 2015, it only because Katie Kirk told me I was good at talking to people.

[B]

Okay. No, that makes sense. You do have a very. Well, I don't know how to explain this. Well formed, well thought out. You're meticulous about things in ways that others aren't. And so you're able to pick apart information that most people would just brush by.

[A]

It's interesting. I had Erica. Do you know, have you ever listened to any Erica's episodes?

[B]

I think I heard one.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

It was a bit ago.

[A]

Yeah, she. She and I were talking the other day and I'm gonna have to bring her back on to talk about it more. But she said, we were talking privately and she said, you know, you had a therapist. I either had a therapist or a psychiatrist on Sandy. She was on recently and during it, she's like, you could be a therapist. And I was like, I could. Like, and then you do have that ability.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I was like, really? And then Erica said, I heard her say that. And she's like, I have to tell you, like you actually, you do a lot of things that are taught to therapists. And I was like, I have no idea about that. So she was telling me and I was like, I can't even remember everything she said right now because I don't have that kind of mind. But she's like, no, that's fair.

[B]

Me neither. Goldfish brain.

[A]

When people say things, you ask questions correctly, you do this, your follow up is really good and on and on. And so that was kind of it. So all really interesting.

[B]

Yeah, definitely. You've learned how to the had the art of conversation extremely well.

[A]

Yeah, I appreciate it. Okay, I'm gonna let you go. Go, go live your life.

[B]

Be Canadian and be Canadian. I'll ride my moose to work.

[A]

Yeah, I know you're going to. Don't, don't worry about it. Hold on one second for me. Today's episode of the Juice Box Podcast is sponsored by the Eversense365. You can experience the Everse Eversense 365 CGM system for as low as $199 for a full year. Visit eversensecgm.com juicebox for more details and eligibility. Earlier, you heard me talking about Blue Circle Health, the free virtual type 1 diabetes care, education and support program for adults. And I know it sounds too good to be true, but I swear it's real. Thanks to funding From a big T1D philosophy philanthropy group, Blue Circle Health doesn't bill your insurance or charge you a cent. In other words, it's free. They can help you with things like carb counting, insurance, navigation, diabetes technology, insulin adjustments, peer support, prescription assistance, and much more. So if you're tired of waiting nine months to get in with your endo or your educator, you can get an appointment with their team within one to two weeks. This program is showing what T1D care can and should look like. Blue Circle Health is currently available in Florida, Maine, Vermont, Ohio, Delaware, Alabama and Missouri. If you live in one of those states, go to bluecirclehealth.org to sign up today. The link is in the show notes and please help me to spread the word. Blue Circle Health had to buy an ad because people don't believe that it's free, but it is. They're trying to give you free care. If you live in Florida, Maine, Vermont, Ohio, Delaware, Alabama, Missouri. Story it's ready to go right now. And like I said, they're adding states so quickly in 2025 that you want to follow them on social media L Circle Health and you can also keep checking bluecirclehealth.org to see when your free care is available to you. Hey, thanks for listening all the way to the end. I really appreciate your loyalty and listenership. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of the Juice Box Podcast. The episode you just heard was professionally edited by Wrong Way Recording wrongwayrecording. Com.