#1645 All in the Family

Summary

Juicebox Podcast: Type 1 Diabetes

Episode #1645: All in the Family
Date: October 6, 2025
Host: Scott Benner
Guest: Mike

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Episode Overview

This episode, titled "All in the Family," explores the unique (and at times harrowing) journey of Mike and his family, who have faced multiple Type 1 diabetes diagnoses across generations. Host Scott Benner and Mike discuss the emotional impact, medical challenges, and evolving strategies for living well with diabetes. Mike’s story covers his daughter's childhood diagnosis in the 1990s, his adult son's sudden onset years later, and then his own shocking diagnosis at age 54, underscoring the unpredictable nature of Type 1 diabetes across ages and life circumstances. The episode provides a rare, candid look into how one family has navigated these diagnoses, the emotional fallout, the technological advances over the decades, and the perspective gained both as a caregiver and a patient.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Family History and Diagnoses

• Mike’s Background
  • Diagnosed with Type 1 at 54; now 56.
  • "I have a lot of experience with type 1 diabetes." (02:07)
  • Lives in Utah, not LDS (04:02), father of four biological kids, stepfather of two, and adopted one from foster care.
• Diabetes Across Generations
  • Daughter diagnosed at age four, in 1995 (06:12).
  • Son diagnosed at 26, in 2021 (18:29).
  • Mike’s own diagnosis in 2023 (23:00).
  • Youngest daughter, currently 27, is the only biological child without T1D (30:02).

Emotional Journey and Impact

• Shock and Devastation at Each Diagnosis
  • "I certainly thought I escaped it at my age, so I was a little shocked and devastated at the same time." – Mike (02:31)
  • Each successive diagnosis brought disbelief; more concern grew for the remaining child.
• Loss and Perspective
  • Eldest son passed away at 21 (05:29), bringing the family closer together.
  • "It actually taught me to let things go... so much of that just didn't matter after that." – Mike (32:00)
• Living as Both Caregiver and Patient
  • "Raising children with T1 was one thing... but now having it myself, everything is so different." – Mike (34:06)
• Caregiver Regrets
  • Mike reflects on not fully grasping the day-to-day emotional burden on his daughter:
    "Even though I raised a type 1 diabetic, I didn't understand it." (38:15)
    "There's days now I look at my numbers... sometimes you just don't want to care about it." (37:11)

Diagnosis Stories

• Daughter’s Presentation (1995)
  • Wetting the bed suddenly, frequent urination, flu-like symptoms (06:46).
  • Immediate hospital admission – diagnosis and start with vials and syringes (07:47; 09:20).
  • No insulin pumps or CGMs; relied on finger sticks.
• Son’s Adult Diagnosis
  • Experienced classic onset and self-diagnosed with a Walgreens checker—immediate ICU visit, A1C at 17 (17:34; 19:34).
  • Military service means his medical supplies are covered for life (20:01).
  • Developed neuropathy by age 30, possibly due to undetected high blood sugar for five years (45:55).
• Mike’s Own Late-Onset
  • Athletic lifestyle, regular checkups, and a casual A1C of 5.9 raised no concerns (23:00).
  • Stopped sugar; A1C crept up to 6.0, then 6.8.
  • “I did everything in my life not to be here... to go from that to all of a sudden having a life-changing disease.” (27:38)
  • Diagnosed after seeing persistent highs with his son's donated CGM; adapt quickly due to long caregiver experience.

Evolution of Treatment and Technology

• Diabetes Management in the 1990s
  • Only MDI (multiple daily injections), vials and syringes—pumps “the size of a car battery.” (09:20)
  • “You just did what the doctor said… There was nowhere to check.” (11:30)
  • Technology and research: lack of information meant reliance solely on physicians (12:08).
  • Daughter labeled “brittle diabetic”—now seen as a result of insufficient data/tools.
• Modern Management
  • Mike currently uses Tandem Mobi with Dexcom CGM, praises flexible settings (54:04 onward).
  • “If this pump died tomorrow, I'd go get another Mobi... It just wouldn't be a question.” (55:15)

Family Resilience and Coping

• The Benner/Mike family is described as solutions-oriented, always looking for positives after adversity:
  • “We're the family that when something bad happens, we'll lick our wounds for a week or two and then start picking out the positive.” (31:14)
• Coping mechanisms extend to learning and adaptation, even after immense loss.
• Recognition that emotional support sometimes matters more than controlling numbers for children/teens with diabetes. "It's okay to get in the weeds with them and let them be mad about the disease." (48:45)

Unique and Notable Moments

• Natural Diabetic Alert Dog
  • Mike’s standard poodle, Delilah, has an uncanny, natural ability to sense lows while hiking—refusing to continue until Mike’s hypo passes (57:37).
  • “She will actually at some point just sit and stop… Whenever I drop low, she will alert me 10 to 15 minutes before.” (58:38)
• On the Difference Between Supporting and Living Diabetes
  • “When you watch your girl go through it, it’s one thing. Now I’m experiencing it, and I don’t know if it’s worse because of my age… But I certainly have a whole new understanding.” (35:03)
• On Medical System Shortcomings
  • Son’s diabetes missed for five years in the Navy, despite an A1C of 6.8; reflected on the prevalence of misdiagnosed adult-onset T1D (46:31).
• Athletic Insights
  • Years of endurance bike racing perhaps delayed (or masked) Mike’s own onset.
  • “The riding just took the weight off… I think the bike racing helped with the type 1 diabetes… I had a very short honeymoon phase.” (43:31; 44:05)
  • Physiological surprises: Exercise sometimes sent his blood sugar up instead of down (53:08).
• Perspective on Adulthood and Meaning
  • “You gain a perspective of a hundred-year-old man in five seconds.” (32:29)
  • “To get worked up over senseless things… It just isn’t worth the energy, really.” (32:54)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Sudden Diagnosis & Family Bonds
  • “You think this doesn't happen to me, right? Like, this happens to other people? Not. Not me.” – Mike (05:47)
  • “The only time she ever cried was the day we brought her home from the hospital and pricked her finger and gave her the first shot. Because of course she thought, I'm out of the hospital, I don't have to do this. And now she does.” – Mike, about his daughter (16:21)
• On Technology & Information
  • “Now I have all this technology… I think back in 1995, I was sent home with a four-year-old and syringes and vials. How did I keep her alive?” – Mike (09:56)
  • “Thirty years ago you couldn’t really research something like that, how different the world is.” – Scott (11:30)
• On Parental Perspective
  • “As a caregiver, you don't realize the 150 to 200 extra decisions a day they’re making.” – Mike (37:11)
• On Sorrow & Resilience
  • “It actually taught me to let things go… so much of that just didn't matter after that.” – Mike, on losing his son (32:00)
• On Late-Onset Diagnosis Reality
  • “I did everything in my life not to be here... and still…” – Mike (27:38)
• On Finding the Positive
  • “Every time something bad happens, we lick our wounds, then we pick out the positive.” – Mike (31:14)
• On His Poodle, Delilah
  • “Whenever I drop low, if we’re out hiking or walking, she will alert me 10 to 15 minutes before… she’s naturally a diabetic alert dog.” – Mike (58:38)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 02:07 – 06:12: Mike introduces family & outlines T1D across multiple children.
• 06:46 – 09:20: Daughter's diagnosis process and 1990s treatment.
• 16:21 – 17:26: What growing up with T1D was like for his daughter.
• 17:34 – 21:20: Son's adult-onset T1D story; military health coverage.
• 23:00 – 30:00: Mike describes his own diagnosis journey and processing the shock.
• 31:14 – 34:28: Family coping, resilience, and perspective; aftermath of loss.
• 34:28 – 38:15: Experiencing diabetes as a patient vs. a caregiver; deeper understanding.
• 43:28 – 46:31: Athletic background, exercise, honeymoon phase.
• 45:55 – 47:03: Son’s complications & missed diagnosis in military records.
• 54:04 – 55:25: Mike’s review of the Tandem Mobi pump.
• 57:37 – 59:33: The story of Delilah the poodle as a natural alert dog.

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Final Section: Reflections and Takeaways

• The onset of Type 1 in a single family can be utterly unpredictable, striking at any age and without clear cause.
• Mike's unique perspective—first as a caregiver, then a patient—not only changed his understanding of diabetes but also deepened his empathy.
• The family’s pragmatic optimism and willingness to find the silver lining is a powerful coping mechanism in the face of repeated adversity.
• Advances in technology (from syringes to CGMs and pumps) have fundamentally changed outcomes and quality of life for people with T1D.
• Sometimes, the best diabetes alert dog is your own poodle.

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This episode is a testament to the resilience of families touched by chronic illness and a reminder to compassionately support both the diagnosed and their loved ones. For anyone facing Type 1 diabetes, Mike’s story provides hard-won wisdom, hope, and humor across the decades.

Transcript

[Scott]

Friends, we're all back together for the next episode of the Juice Box Podcast. Welcome.

[Mike]

My name is Mike and I am a type 1 diabetic. When I was diagnosed, I was 54. I am now 56. Kind of. Unfortunately, I have a lot of experience with type 1 diabetes.

[Scott]

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[Mike]

My name is Mike, I live in Utah and I am a type 1 diabetic, newly diagnosed at the ripe age of When I was diagnosed I was 54. I am now 56. Kind of. Unfortunately. I have a lot of experience with type 1 diabetes.

[Scott]

Yeah, look at how you teased it out, Mike. That's a bit of a storyteller in you there. That's excellent.

[Mike]

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Unfortunately, I don't know if you could say it's a horror story or a great story when it comes to diabetes. Unfortunately, baptism by fire. And I certainly thought I escaped it at my age, so I was a little shocked and devastated at the same time.

[Scott]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Yeah. And here we are today.

[Scott]

That's how I envision this, actually. So let's do this. Are there any other autoimmune issues in your family?

[Mike]

You know there is not. I have a Daughter who was diagnosed pretty much same age as Ardent. And at the time, I talked to my mom, and she said that they had an aunt that died prematurely, and they think it was type 1, but other than that, it was just type 2 diabetes. So when my daughter and then later my son, as we'll get into that, were diagnosed, they always wanted to know who to blame. And last spring, they decided to blame me.

[Scott]

So when I said, is there any other autoimmune in your family, you meant. No, other than my two children who have type 1 diabetes.

[Mike]

Other than my two children who have type 1 diabetes, absolutely. Yeah. So I guess, in a way, I was the beginning.

[Scott]

Well, how many kids do you have in total?

[Mike]

Okay, so this will shock you a little bit, but I have seven. My wife has two. I had four. And then we adopted a girl out of the foster care when she was 13 years old. She's now 20.

[Scott]

That's interesting that you didn't get to that math the way I expected you to, because I know you live in.

[Mike]

Utah, and I am not lds, and I have a bunch of kids.

[Scott]

Yeah. When you said I have seven, I was like, why would you think this is shocking to me? But obviously you came about them. You've been collecting them in a couple of different ways.

[Mike]

Yeah, exactly.

[Scott]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Adding on, but I don't think we're going to add any more. I think we're good at seven.

[Scott]

Yeah. So you have, I almost said sired. What, are we making puppies over here?

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Scott]

Why did that pop into my head? You're the father of four natural children.

[Mike]

I am the father of four natural children. Correct.

[Scott]

Your wife showed up with two.

[Mike]

My wife showed up with two, yeah.

[Scott]

And you stole one from the mall.

[Mike]

We stole one from the foster care program. Yeah. And it was actually. That's a whole podcast in itself. What a rewarding experience. And I could go on the road talking about how successful that is.

[Scott]

No kidding. Okay, so of your four kids that you had, I'm assuming, in a previous marriage, what are their ages?

[Mike]

So my oldest son, who passed away in 2011, would have been 35 today. I have a daughter who will be 34 this winter, this December. She's my type 1 diabetic. My son, who is. He lives in Portland. His name's zach. He is 30, and he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes four years ago. And then I have a younger daughter who's the only one that's not diabetic. She's 26.

[Scott]

Mike, I'm sorry to ask you, but how did your Oldest son. Pass.

[Mike]

He went through a rough breakup and unfortunately took his own life.

[Scott]

Oh, my gosh. At what age?

[Mike]

Yeah, he was 21. Just barely turned 21. Oh, so it's been a while.

[Scott]

Yeah. No, but still, did he have other. I don't know how to ask you this. Is that a thing you saw coming?

[Mike]

No, no. In fact, Scott, you know, whenever somebody happens, maybe even when Narden's diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, you think this doesn't happen to me, right? Like, this happens to other people? Not. Not me. So it was a shock. It was a huge shock. Not something I was expecting by any means, but it. You know, it definitely was shocking.

[Scott]

Well, I'm so sorry. So your daughter's diagnosed at two.

[Mike]

Did you say she was four years old when she was diagnosed? So back in 1995.

[Scott]

95. Okay. So, yeah, Arden was diagnosed when she was two and in 90. Oh, my God. 2006. Yes, 2006. It's a lot of math there. So, okay, so your daughter had. Had diabetes for 10 years by the time my kid was diag diagnosed.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Scott]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Definitely got a head start on you.

[Scott]

Okay, so 1996, she's four years old. Do you remember that process? Do you remember how it presented?

[Mike]

You know, just like probably any parent, yourself included, when you look back, you're like, how did we not catch it? But at the time, she never wet the bed. She was amazing. And then all of a sudden, she started wetting the bed. And we didn't think anything of it because I never even really heard of type 1 diabetes at the time. The Internet, not what it is today. And so she started wetting the bed. And then we would start leaving the house, and we tell her to go to the bathroom, and I swear, we get like two miles away, and she's, I have to go to the bathroom. And I remember saying, there's no way you have to go to the bathroom. You just went. But we would stop. Didn't really notice her drinking anything. She was only four, so didn't really notice if she was losing weight. And then she got sick, and she just didn't get any better. And my ex wife said, I'm gonna take her to the doctor. And she did. And they did a urine test, and it came back like, you need to take her to the ER right now.

[Scott]

Okay.

[Mike]

And my wife called me and she said, you know, you have to take her in. She has sugar in her urine. I'm like, well, what does that mean? And she said, I don't know. And of course, you know, as soon as they get her to the ER, they check her into ICU and then we, we find out about type 1 diabetes.

[Scott]

Wow. You said she sick and she didn't get better. Like would you have described her as just like under the weather or flu, like symptoms or. And how long did it last?

[Mike]

Yeah, just like the flu. That's really what we thought. She just had the flu. She just wasn't getting better. We hadn't put together any type of, you know, urination issues with bedwetting or even leaving the house. We hadn't put that together. But she, yeah, she had the flu and running a fever and she just wasn't getting any better. And that's, that's when my ex wife decided to take like that.

[Scott]

Do you know how long that process was? Was it days, weeks where you thought she was sick?

[Mike]

I would say she was probably sick for about a week. And you know, four year old being in daycare around other kids, that wasn't abnormal. Kids are kind of petri dishes for, you know, sickness anyway.

[Scott]

Right.

[Mike]

We really hadn't thought about, just lingered and lingered and it wasn't getting better. She wasn't in full DKA by any means. So we were, we were very fortunate it wasn't a. Yeah, a quick trip to the icu, even though it was, but in a roundabout way.

[Scott]

So Mike, who takes care of the diabetes for the 4 year old? Is it, is it a shared experience between you and your ex or is it one or the other? And what did that look like back then? What kind of insulin? What were you doing for management?

[Mike]

So we were doing MDI at that time. There was no really pumps. They were round, but they weren't really readily. It wasn't something certainly we were going to put on a four year old back then. I think they were about the size of a car battery. They were big. There were certainly no cgm. So we went through some education classes at the hospital and of course we went through a counseling class that it wasn't any of our fault and we were sent home with, you know, vials and syringes and that's what we gave her at that time. I don't even believe pens were available.

[Scott]

Okay.

[Mike]

And as I look through that, you know, my wife worked in, in the evenings and at night and I worked during the day. So it was a shared 50, 50. And we're trying to really just trying to figure it out. When I look at today's technology, you know, with CGMs and pumps. And then I think back in 1995, I was sent home with a four year old in syringes and vials. How did I keep her alive? There was so much of a picture we didn't understand. And back then, you hear this term, and I've even heard it on your podcast, they defined her as a brittle diabetic, meaning hard to control. It was just we didn't know the whole picture of what was going on. That's why she was hard to control.

[Scott]

Yeah, no kidding. You said you don't know how you kept her alive, but how do you think you did it? What was it? Did you eventually find a rhythm, something that was agreeable or. I don't. You know what I mean?

[Mike]

I think more it's, you know, now that I'm on insulin, it's more I look back at how at the time, I didn't realize how dangerous insulin was.

[Scott]

Okay.

[Mike]

And you were always walking in a way with a, you know, especially a type 1 diabetic at that age, you're kind of walking a tight line. But I think because of my young age, the Internet wasn't what it is, so we really couldn't research it. We were just counting carbs, giving her the right amount of insulin, doing lantus at night, and then of course, trying to finger pricker as much as you can to get a good picture before meals, after meals, and kind of understand it. But you certainly didn't get that every five minute blood sugar to really obtain a full picture.

[Scott]

Mike, are you old enough to appreciate that 30 years ago you couldn't really research something like that, how different the world is. Like, I imagine people younger than us are never really going to understand that you just, like somebody said something to it and you went, okay, well, the doctor said it, that's it. We'll do this for the rest of our lives. Now there's nowhere to check. Maybe you'd bump into somebody eventually who'd say something to you, you know, counterintuitive to what you'd heard the first time, but there was nowhere to go to find out. You know, it's crazy how much the access to information has changed in such a short. I think of it as a short amount of time, but I'm assuming people think of 30 years as a long time. But it seems fast to me.

[Mike]

You know, it's funny you say that because, yeah, we were so isolated. I have a lot of medical professions, professionals in my family, and I look back at like just 100 years ago, you know, like when you look at the whole lifespan of Humans existent the leaps and bounds that we have made in the last hundred years. And then really like you said with technology information 30 years ago that that just wasn't available a short amount of time that now we have that. But I also question, like, would it have been scary to have all that information back then? It certainly would have helped.

[Scott]

It's possible that the knowledge without the technology might have been frightening because you did say, like, you didn't know even that, that the insulin could be dangerous. So you were just doing. You were just doing what they said. You weren't even thinking twice about like, what might be happening afterwards, right?

[Mike]

Yeah, absolutely. And sadly, you know now, like, if you go low in the middle of the night, you get alarms, which are really annoying because I get a ton of. But back then, the only way we knew that she was going low is we would hear her cry. And at that point, you know, I don't. I think we were sleeping very lightly just so we could always hear her. And it's just scary to think what was going on. And then I think even like, what was going on 30 years before she was even diagnosed. How much scarier was that? Because at least we had test strips and we had more than one a day.

[Scott]

Do you recall what her A1Cs were like back then?

[Mike]

You know, she was always actually, for the most part, pretty good. She was in sixes. Never really got down in the fives. Maybe. Maybe low sevens.

[Scott]

They must have been thrilled with that back then.

[Mike]

Yeah, they were. They were really happy. You know, we were really good at always taking her to the endocrinologist every time she had an appointment. We never really skipped any corners on it. We wanted to make sure she got the best care.

[Scott]

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[Mike]

Doesn'T, you know, she doesn't really know life without type 1 diabetes. So for her it's very interesting. She just doesn't remember anything. You know, she was really great through the whole thing, especially as I look back now that I'm a type one. But the only time she ever cried was the day we brought her home from the hospital and pricked her finger and gave her the first shot. Because of course she thought, I'm out of the hospital, I don't have to do this. And now she does. She never really cried. Now I look back and now that I'm type one, I look back and I think, I wish I had understood a little bit more. But of course I was trying to keep her A1C low, make sure her blood sugar wasn't spiking. So it was harder for me to understand. Especially as she got into the teenage years of having a cheat day or a day I just don't want to be diabetic. I didn't understand those then.

[Scott]

Yeah, well I mean, I think this is where, honestly, where your story is going to get the most interesting is, is when you're diagnosed and you have the ability to look back over all this time with her and then, of course, with your son as well.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Scott]

How long does she have type 1 before your son's diagnosed? And was he diagnosed as an adult out of the house or with you still?

[Mike]

Yeah. So my son was in the Navy. He was stationed in San Diego. Went in when he was, oh, gosh, just 20, 21 years old. And he got out. He was out in August of 2021. He moved to Portland, bought a house. He was driving down to San Diego to see his wife's family, and all of a sudden he looked at his wife, said, I just don't feel good. He knew something was wrong. So this was December, Christmas of 2021, and he stopped at Walmart and bought a cheap checker and checked, and it said hi to him. Want to know how he was doing that day, too? And he immediately looked. His wife said, we have to go to the icu. We have to get to the ER really quick. He went to the er, and I remember when he called me and he said, dad, I'm. I'm in the hospital. So for what? He said, Type 1 diabetic. I just was complete shock.

[Scott]

Yeah. Why, Mike? Because. Because it just felt like it had happened once, it couldn't happen again.

[Mike]

Basically. Yeah, it happened once, it shouldn't happen again. He was 26, 27 years old. It just didn't seem right. And then I remember I teared up. And when we got off the phone with him, I said, thinking to God or whatever, I'll take this. And unfortunately I did. But somebody else didn't live up to their end.

[Scott]

Didn't do the exchange. They just spread it out.

[Mike]

Yeah, exactly.

[Scott]

I thought he was crying because he went from living in the weather of San Diego to the weather of Portland, Oregon. Oh, yeah, that make me upset. Wow. So he's diagnosed as a young married person. Had he been married long at that point?

[Mike]

He had only been married about a year. So it was very new. You know, obviously, you know, he knew all about diabetes. And I would say in the hospital, he was joking with me. We were FaceTiming and he. He was uplifted. He was. He was like, I'm gonna be fine. It was more me that was almost devastated over it than you think that.

[Scott]

He felt like he was going to be fine because he grew up with a sister who had it.

[Mike]

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. He had the confidence, and he's just a great kid. Anyways, everything's positive. He's just fun to be around. He was kind of, in a way, a lucky one. His A1C, when he went in, was 17. He had been high, but because he had just got out of the military, he was able to go back. That was something they should have caught when he got out of the military.

[Scott]

Hmm.

[Mike]

So the military will actually pay for his medical supplies, full pump and everything, for the rest of his life.

[Scott]

Oh, because he was in when this started and it wasn't caught. This falls under his veterans benefits.

[Mike]

Absolutely. Yep. So he'll have 100%. And, you know, when my daughter had it, one of the first things I was worried about was like, this is. This is not fair in life because this is a lifetime expense. That's not fair to her.

[Scott]

Yeah, yeah. The cost is. I was just having a conversation with somebody about some generic insulin that's coming, and they're talking a lot about, like, what kind of pen is it going to go into? And, you know, like, they're, you know, at a company level, they're talking about all that. And somebody remarked, you know, I think really, you should be a little more focused on just the fact that people need affordable insulin, put it in vials and give it to them.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Scott]

Let's stop worrying about, like, this part of it here. Like, let's just. You know, there's a lot of people who can't afford their insulin. They're rationing. They're not eating sometimes because of it. Like, they don't care which one of the. One of the pens you choose. Like, just, like, let's get it to them. And I thought it's interesting the way you. You just talked about the financial side of it. Right. Like, my gosh, like, what a relief is it that someone else is going to pay for this stuff. For your son versus your daughter who's, you know.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Scott]

Yeah. Stuck paying for her whole life. Hey.

[Mike]

Yep.

[Scott]

Is he still married?

[Mike]

Yes, he's still married. Lives in Portland, and he's on a pump, and his A1C was. He was down to 5, 5. And they're trying to kick him up a little bit. They want him more around that 5, 7, 59 range.

[Scott]

Okay. Is he experiencing a lot of lows?

[Mike]

More than what they would like. He's on a. He's on a T Slim. Yeah.

[Scott]

He.

[Mike]

He tends to hover a little bit low, but then he allows a spike. His. His standard deviation's a little bit on the higher side.

[Scott]

Okay. And can I ask, I've been wondering this for 10 minutes now. Do you think that one of your kids getting type 1 diabetes at all added to the fact that you're divorced from their mom? Now, did it add a level of difficulty to your marriage, or do you think they're not related?

[Mike]

No, I don't think it is. They've been diagnosed for about six years. And, you know, it really didn't cause a lot of friction, that part. There was some other things that just caused that.

[Scott]

Yeah, I don't need to know what they are. I just was wondering if that was a contributing factor or not.

[Mike]

No, I. I don't think it was.

[Scott]

So now, how long ago was your son diagnosed?

[Mike]

So he was diagnosed December of 2021, and it was like Chris Day before Christmas.

[Scott]

Right. So four, maybe four years ago in that range. This is some, like, couple of decades since your daughter's been type one. So your daughter's diagnosed at a really young age. You grow up as a father through all that. He's diagnosed more recently and then it's just a couple years later that you are as well.

[Mike]

Yeah. My story was actually really interesting the way it came about. I was one of the very fortunate ones that I didn't go into DKA or ICU or anything. But, yes, it was just really about three years later that we had noticed something with me. And in 2023, I had worked for a company for about seven years and I had another company that recruited me and I decided to make the jump. And in between, I had a couple week period where I just decided to take a couple weeks off. And I thought, well, I'm going to go in and get my physical done because I have asthma. And so I need to get my asthma medication renewed. And I went to the doctor, they did a full blood palette. So this was September of 23, and it came back a few days later. And my primary care physician, she's a marathon runner, and maybe we should say that I'm a cyclist. I used to race bikes. And at this time, I stopped racing in 2015, but I still work out anywhere from 10 to 15 hours a week. I'm on a bike, so I'm a very active person. And so of course, with a lot of athletes, what happens is you tend to eat whatever you want because you work out. And so my A1C, she called me and it came back at 5, 9. She said, Mike, your A1C is a little high. And she said, obviously you're not a type 2. But she didn't even mention diabetes. We really just talked about I should stop eating sugar. And because I worked out, your normal person would go, let's say in the evening, eat one or two Oreo cookies. And I'm probably the guy that eats 10 to 12 cookies and then maybe washes it down with a brownie. I said, that's fine, fine. So in September, when she said, you know, I bet if you just stop eating it, maybe just had a treat here or there on the weekends, you'll be fine. So I, being who I am, I completely stopped eating sugar. Went to Mexico, Cancun, for a week there I had some desserts and a few drinks. I'm not a heavy drinker, but I really cut back drinking. And I went back for my. And she was fantastic. She could have left it at that and said, don't worry about coming back. Just stop eating sugar. But she said, come back in three months and let's test it again. I went back three months later. It was December. It was right around probably December 20th, so shortly before Christmas, and got my blood work done. And I remember I was actually in the department store checking out, buying my wife a Christmas present. And I got an email that my blood results came back. And I started opening it, checked out. And as I was walking through the parking lot to my truck, I looked at it and I saw my A1C had gone from 5, 9 to 6. And the tears started coming, I knew I was like, wait a minute, there's no way it can be six. How can this happen?

[Scott]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Mike]

Talked to the doctor, and it was like, okay, let's just keep watching it. We're going to test again in three more months. So in that time, I was working out there was Christmas Eve, and I thought, I'm going to go to Walmart and just buy a glucose checker, because you can get them fairly inexpensive there. And I checked. I just finished working out, got home, opened it up, checked it. My Sugar levels were 180. I was like, this is not right. I shouldn't be 180. So I started checking it periodically, went through the holidays, didn't really have much sugar or anything. And then in March of 2022, or no, I'm sorry, March of 2024, we started looking for a second home. And we were looking in southern Utah at the same time. You know, there's a lot of stress going on of buying an additional home. My son was a type 1 diabetic, and I talked to him, you know, almost every other day, and he said, dad, I'm going to send you a cgm. He's like, I have so many. I'll send you one so we can get a clearer picture. And he sent it. I was completely shocked. All of a sudden I was seeing three hundreds and I was like, this isn't good. I went down to do a home inspection on her house and I came back and my sugar levels were so elevated, it was, caused me a little stress. I actually thought I was having a heart attack and went to the doctor the next day, did another 1A 1C check and I jumped from 6 to 6 8.

[Scott]

Mike, that sadness you felt, was it about your own health solely? Was it about what you thought you were losing, what you're about to experience? Or do you think you started to think more about your kids? Or do you think there's a combination of things in there?

[Mike]

I think when I looked at it, it was one of those. So I had worked out race bikes my entire Life and racing 10 to 13,000 miles a year. And I remember when I looked at my primary care physician, I don't think she even wanted to tell me what my A1C was because when she did tell me, I had to ask her and she got real quiet and she said 6, 8. And the tears came and I was, you know, I was like, I did everything in my life not to be here. And of course she said, it's not your fault. And she's, you know, she was real nice. She said, if anything, because of your lifestyle, you probably would have been here two years ago in a lot worse shape. So you didn't do anything. And so I think it was more, it was just a shock because I had always really taken great pride in really taking care of myself, being active, being healthy. I was the guy that would go to the doctor and my blood pressure would be so low. I would be really proud of that. So to go, that was a huge swing for me to go from that to all of a sudden having a life changing disease.

[Scott]

It was more about the, I guess that psychological aspect of like, I like, how is it possible I put this much effort into something, it still didn't work out.

[Mike]

Yeah, absolutely. And you know, I, I've heard, you know, even on your podcast, other older people saying the same thing. I thought, I thought it, you know, 54, 55 years old, I'd escaped that. I certainly knew what it was, but I thought I had escaped it.

[Scott]

Was there a piece of the, like you said earlier, like, you know, your daughter had type one for such a Long time. Her. Your son's diagnosed later, you think, oh, God, that can't happen. Like, it's already happened to us. Is this like the. Oh, it can't. How is it possibly going to happen a third time? It's happened twice. Or is it more about feeling, like, marked? Do you start feeling like, oh, this thing feels like it's out to get? Like, you know what? You know I should mention this, right? It's the 50th anniversary of Jaws. Remember in Jaws where they act. They acted like the shark had something out for the family? Like, did you feel like that?

[Mike]

That didn't really cross my mind too much. What did cross my mind was my youngest daughter didn't have diabetes. Of.

[Scott]

Okay, is it going to happen?

[Mike]

Pretty much every one of your direct siblings has it now. Your dad, like, are you next?

[Scott]

Yeah, yeah. Now you're worried for her it's going to come for her as well?

[Mike]

Absolutely.

[Scott]

How old is she?

[Mike]

He is 27.

[Scott]

And I guess it doesn't really matter because now at this point you have. You have someone diagnosed at 4, someone diagnosed at 21, someone diagnosed at 52. Like, there's no even rhyme or reason to the, to the age there in the family. So this is just a thing I imagine you're going to worry about for the rest of your life for her?

[Mike]

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

[Scott]

Yeah.

[Mike]

And so of course, my, you know, my diabetes stories doesn't end there. So I was diagnosed and then in June, I think it was June of last year, my wife's half brother wound up in the icu. Dka. And then it's like, wow, now we have another one. No blood relation, but. Okay, now is my wife on that? And we did go get her tested for the antibodies. Mike.

[Scott]

I'm sorry, your current wife or your ex wife?

[Mike]

My current wife.

[Scott]

Okay.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Scott]

Oh, geez.

[Mike]

Yeah. And we've been together for 20 years, so it's been a long time.

[Scott]

I was just gonna say, like, if. If we found it in your ex wife's family line, then it makes sense that, you know that so many of your kids have it too. Is there anxiety in your family, like with your kids or yourself? Is anybody anxious, adhd, anything like that?

[Mike]

No, not at all. If anything, we're the 100 opposite. We're the family that when something bad happens, we'll. We'll lick our wounds for a week or two and then we'll start picking out the positive. Like even me with type 1 diabetes, even though my daughter had it, like, now I really understand how the Whole digestive system works, the liver and everything. And it's like, it's like, okay, now I probably understand more about digestive, the digestive system, diabetes, more than endocrinologists. So we're kind of always that family that picks the positive out of everything. Even when my son passed away, we picked out positive things and that's just the way we are. Lick our wounds for, for a little bit and then we pick ourselves back up.

[Scott]

Can you tell me some of the positives you identified after his passing?

[Mike]

Yeah, absolutely. You know, it was devastating because me, I had never even been to a funeral and so to go to my funeral, the first one to be my son, but it really brought my children together closer, even closer than they were. And that was always the positive. And it actually taught me to let things go. There was a lot of things even like I would argue with my ex wife and I was like so much of that just didn't matter after that. It was so insignificant. It just didn't matter.

[Scott]

Yeah, you gained a perspective of a hundred year old man in five seconds. Really?

[Mike]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Scott]

I feel like diabetes has done that for me. Oh. And I feel like I see it with other people as well, you know, just at some point, I don't know, the minutiae and the silly things that we all like get upset about or argue about. I just, when they happen now, you just feel like, God, this is just so meaningless, you know? Yeah, yeah.

[Mike]

To get worked up over senseless things, it just, that's actually what came up. It was like, this just isn't worth energy, really negative energy anymore. And I really took that approach with my ex wife. I was like, I'm just not gonna argue with you. I just don't care anymore.

[Scott]

Yeah, just I, I don't know, like the, the words for it, but it's, and it doesn't happen consciously in your head, but you know, like what are we gonna argue about where we're going to dinner? Like Arden's pancreas doesn't make insulin, you know, or my son's not here anymore. Like, like this is, this is a real thing that happens. Like just because it happened to us this one time, it doesn't mean it's not happening to other people all over the world constantly. That people aren't battling depression or you know, quiet battles that nobody else knows about and that there aren't shocked families left behind or health issues that people are, are just constantly fighting with. And we're gonna sit here and like be mad that, you know, I don't know, the gutter guys didn't come on the right day or, like, you know, like, just doesn't matter. I don't know. I just think it gives you, like, a lifetime's worth of perspective in a short amount of time. And I think a lot of people are lucky enough to level up from that and maybe find some clarity that they didn't have prior.

[Mike]

Yeah, I'll. I'll agree 100%.

[Scott]

Yeah.

[Mike]

I really do think, you know, T1 just changes everything for you. And, you know, now that I've been diagnosed with it, it really changes everything. More than raising children with T1 was one thing or a child, and then having an adult or, you know, an adult child, but now having it myself, it's just everything is so different. Different in life now.

[Scott]

Well, that's what I want to check with you because it's. I mean, listen, it's easy for me to philosophize about it, right? Like, because it's. I don't have to take the insulin. Arden does. Right. Like, I don't get low. She does.

[Mike]

Right.

[Scott]

I don't have to worry about the future. She does. Like, those are all her actual lived problems, not mine. But I know how I feel, and I know how I've been impacted by it. But I guess my question to you is, is the. Did any of that change or deepen when it became your diagnosis? Or are the feelings I'm feeling for a child really the same that I would get if I had diabetes myself?

[Mike]

Yeah, it's interesting, obviously, experiencing some lows and some highs. I have a completely different perspective of it now. When you watch your girl go through it, it's one thing. Now I'm experiencing it, and I don't know if it's worse because of my age. I don't know if that's something that could even be quantified. But I certainly have a whole new understanding. I remember when my daughter would come home and she, you know, her blood sugar would be high and I'd ask her what she had for lunch and, you know, how much insulin did you take? And I remember saying, like, did you forget your diabetes? And now I have an old news perspective of that, a clearer picture and certainly understanding of it.

[Scott]

Have you contacted her and shared that with her?

[Mike]

You know, we have kind of a strained relationship a little bit, which is sad, but no, I haven't. Certainly with my son, we talk all the time, and we can definitely correlate. He's actually maintained really well. I'm a little bit better Than him, I think. Yeah, but he's, he's really good at it. But, you know, I had a really scary low last December, and so it's nice to talk to somebody who's gone through that to, to get some understanding.

[Scott]

Yeah, well, I mean, I don't know the source of your strain with your daughter, but I mean, I would imagine it would mean something to her to know that, you know, like, you have a different perspective now that you have it and, you know, you're sorry for, for any time that you may have. Like, I don't know if that's fixes things with people or not, but I'm assuming we've all done that to a kid with type one. Everybody who's a caregiver at some point or another. You say that thing right like that, no matter how you mean it sounds like, what did you do? You know, like, why did. How did you make this happen? Like, what did you not do that caused this? That, as much as that's not your intention in the moment, I imagine it's overwhelmingly received that way from, from the type ones themselves. I don't know, maybe, you know, maybe she don't want to hear from you. I'm not asking you, but I feel like that'd be a thing somebody would want to know.

[Mike]

I definitely think we'll, you know, we will have that conversation. You know, as, you know, with Arden, when you're. They're young like that, even teenage, you're just trying to do everything to make sure that there's no effects 30 years down the road. So you want to keep them as in line as you can so there's not other health problems. And obviously that's something you very, you know, you care for very much. You want to make sure that they're really, you know, keeping in line and just being healthy. So I didn't really understand that. But, you know, there's days now I look at my numbers and, and I'm really well controlled. I'm 98 to 99 in range every day. My standard deviations about 19%. So I'm very well controlled. But even then, sometimes it's just like, you know, you just don't want to care about it. One day you just, you know, I read something that said the average diabetic makes an extra 150 to 200 decisions a day. And there's a lot of truth to that, that even though I raised a type 1 diabetic, I didn't understand it.

[Scott]

Yeah, no, you can't possibly. And you Know now. Right. That's not a. Just a thing you've heard. Like, I hear people make a lot of extra decisions, and they have type one now you're making those decisions. And, yeah. Again, your perspective is raised. You might be an oracle by the time you're done, Mike, if stuff keeps happening to you.

[Mike]

Oh, my gosh. So I started having really high blood sugars. I was leaving town, My doctor was out of town, and somebody in her office had prescribed me Metformin because he didn't know me. So he's like, okay, he's got high blood sugar. It's type two. So I took that for a little while. It did nothing. And then I took a C peptide test, and it came back that I had the antibodies. And I called my doctor, and he said, okay. And I was leaving town again because, unfortunately, I travel sometimes. And she called me in lantis, and she said, I don't know if this is good or bad, but she's like, you're one of my only patients. I could just call in insulin and not have to give him education. Yeah. Sadly, I have too much education. And type 1 diabetes.

[Scott]

Yeah. Did you find that the experience with your daughter growing up and now your conversations with your son, that you really. There was nothing really left for you to understand? Like, you were just like, oh, I have it now. I know how to do it. Is there any gaps in your knowledge at all?

[Mike]

Well, so when I was raising my daughter, there was no. CGMs weren't around. So I definitely saw a very clear picture of what happens when you eat food to get that and see it. Yeah. The other thing is, I feel like no type one diabetics are alike. Everybody's different. We all have different eating habits. We drink differently. Just everything's different, our lifestyles. So even though I knew that, you know, if you. If you draw it on paper or whiteboard of what diet, type 1 diabetes, it's perfect, right? Okay. You bring in this many carbs, you take this much insulin, no problem. But when you're actually living it in real life, it's not that clear. It's. It's just in. Every day is different. I'm pretty lucky. I eat kind of the same thing every day. You know, I have a yogurt in the morning if I'm going out training. I eat the same food. So it was more learning about myself and really understanding how the CGMs work. There was that little gap. Even though my son was on a cgm, my daughter's on a cgm, I Didn't raise anybody on a cgm. So that part there was a little bit of a learning curve when to do a calibration, which it's very rare. I do one, I'm pretty lucky. I'm one of the very few on G7 that have failed. I think I've. Over the last year and a half, I've had two that have failed.

[Scott]

Yeah, my. I don't think that makes you like one of the few. I think that maybe just people on the Internet are, you know, more drawn to use the Internet sometimes for talking about what's not working, trying to get help and people who are putting on, you know, I say all the time, like, Arden has incredible success with the G7. But I don't go online and be like, oh, there's another sensor that lasted 10 hours plus the 12 hour grace period, like, or 10 days plus 12 hours. Like, I mean, that's not a thing you get to tell people online, you know?

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Scott]

Can I ask you about biking? How long have you been riding?

[Mike]

So I started riding in 1995. It was funny, I just barely moved to Utah and I had a neighbor who was gonna go do this 100 mile big bike event and I'd even have a bike and I was like, okay, yeah, I'll do it. So I went to Walmart. I bought a cheap mountain bike, probably weighed 3,000 pounds. I did it. I swore I'd never ride a bike again. And then later that year, I ended up buying my first road bike. Rode it very, very often. But I really didn't start racing bikes until 2005. 2005, I really got into racing. Endurance bike racing was my big thing. That was the first year I did. There's a race that they do here. It's fairly known throughout the nation. It's called Logan the Jackson. And it's 206 miles. You go over three mountain ranges and you do that all in one day.

[Scott]

Geez.

[Mike]

Yeah. So I did that and 2005 was my first year. I didn't know I was going to do it until a week before I signed up for it. And then I decided that bike racing was for me. I've done it 10 times now. I actually stopped racing in 2015. But, you know, in the highlight of my kind of my career, I raced 62 times in one year. So yeah, I raced race quite a bit.

[Scott]

And was that just a thing you picked up at some point or were you incredibly active before that?

[Mike]

No, I wasn't at all. Really. I got out of the Navy moved to Utah, done a little bit of running. I blew out my knee, came down into a rut the wrong way, blew it out. And so when I got into racing, riding bikes, I always enjoyed it as a kid, and it was just something I picked up. I was really good at it. If you look at me now, you would think, wow, that's a really tall, skinny guy by nature. I'm not a skinny person. I'm six one. I think at one point I was up to 225 pounds. Right now I weigh about 160. The riding, just because.

[Scott]

I'm sorry, the ride. Did the riding take the weight off of you?

[Mike]

Yeah, the riding weight took it off. I had done that event in 95, then I gained some weight and then I got back into it on a mountain bike with road tires on it, so there were not knobby tires. And I went and did an event and I was keeping up with all the road guys and I was like, all right, it's time to get back into this, do a real bike. Time to get out riding. And so I, I do think the bike racing helped with the type 1 diabetes, because as I look back now, I think I struggled with this. My honeymoon phase was relatively short, and I think that's because I rode through my honeymoon phase and kept my sugar levels down.

[Scott]

The amount of time that you knew you had Type one was short. But you think that maybe there was a longer honeymoon prior to you knowing that was kind of helped by your activity.

[Mike]

Yeah, absolutely. So I really suffered on the bike. Last year I was getting diagnosed, I was getting on insulin. They had me on Metformin. I was carrying a lot of fatigue. I go on a 30 minute bike ride, come home, take a three hour nap, and I was just wrecked and I couldn't figure it out. And then once I was. I've been on a pump now for about, oh, 50 days.

[Scott]

Okay.

[Mike]

And so when you eat, as you know, your carbs break down in the sugar, which translates to energy. Well, if you don't have any insulin, where's your body getting the energy from? It's breaking down your muscle. And now that I'm on insulin and I'm regulated very well, I'm starting to build up muscle again. And I look back and think, wow, I was really suffering for three, four years because now I can go out, ride my bike and, you know, I can hit 4 or 500 watts and maintain that for a little while and actually get home. And I'm not sore, I'm not fatigued. Where I was for many years. And so now I'm starting to look back and think, was this, you know, I caught Covid in 2000, did that trigger it? And I've really been suffering with this longer than what I know. It's hard to figure that one out.

[Scott]

I actually found myself wondering if your son's service maybe didn't keep him very active and maybe when he was out, maybe that's why I actually wondered. Not enough there for me to say out loud at the moment. But you said his A1C was 17?

[Mike]

17, yeah.

[Scott]

Right. So I don't know. The activity definitely can help during those long, slow honeymoon periods, especially with Lada.

[Mike]

Yeah, absolutely. So one thing we found out with my son was he just found this out a couple months ago. My son has neuropathy pretty bad. He's walking with a cane.

[Scott]

Really?

[Mike]

And yeah, he's only 30 years old. So of course his doctor wanted to know why, like, why is he suffering so bad with all of this? Why is he walking with a cane? Why is he having foot problems? They pulled his medical records and they found out that five years prior to his diagnosis, they did a blood workup on him and his A1C was 6.8. And all they put in the note was, we'll watch it. So he had been suffering with this for a very long time. The military didn't really thoroughly do what they should have done.

[Scott]

Do you think your son had elevated blood sugars for five years before he was diagnosed?

[Mike]

Oh, gosh, Yep, five years. Because it did come back. He was a six, eight. And as we all know, six eight, you know, that's, that's a big trigger. But I think especially we see this a lot. And you know, I read this on forums, I've heard it on your podcast of everybody. They automatically think it's type 2 at first in older people, you know, and so that's tend to, you know, just eat better and it'll go away. And that's not the case.

[Scott]

Probably what they were thinking there too. So.

[Mike]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Scott]

You know, you're doing a great job of telling your story, but is there something that drew you to want to be on the podcast that I'm not covering or get getting to?

[Mike]

So I started listening to your podcast because when my brother in law was diagnosed with type one, he also had a brain injury. And so I was going to the doctor with him to really help him out. I was already diagnosed at T1. I was just doing MDI at the time, so I was going to his pump Education classes with him, helped him pick out a pump. And then when they educated on the educator told me about your podcast. And so I started listening to it. Then from basically episode one, I think I got up to about 400. Now I'm kind of going backwards. So it was more just helping him. He got the Omnipod. I thought I had a really interesting story. My 30 years worth of diabetes, becoming a diabetic. And if anything, it was more wanted to. It was almost like through experience of now looking back at what my daughter went through 30 years ago of do everything you can, be supportive, help out. There's going to be those days. And I can only imagine being a teenager who's lived with diabetes for let's say 10, 12 years of how frustrating that has to be on a daily basis. And it's okay to get in the weeds with them and let them be mad about the disease and it's okay. It's not something that can just easily be managed. It's probably one of the most self managed, frustrating diseases known to man.

[Scott]

Do you think that you, in the pursuit of being supportive or keeping things on the right track, do you think there were times that your daughter wanted to commiserate or be sad and you didn't let her?

[Mike]

Probably a little. Well, no, definitely. We knew it was very, very frustrating. But I think we, you know, we definitely wanted to understand, but maybe not as much understanding of what it was because we weren't living with it. So you can understand as much as you, you think you know, but until you're actually really living it, then you really get the full picture of it.

[Scott]

Yeah, yeah, I, I in the past have worried that this is a great format for conversation. But at the same time, like, you have to be what the word is. You have to be like clear and you can't get muddled when you're talking all the time. So like I've worried in the past that like just through trying to tell a story and not being able to tell every second of it, sharing my perspective could even feel blase at times like w. And it, I don't feel that way at all. It's just that, you know, sometimes you say something, whether it's to another person directly or here on a podcast or anywhere, and you can't give the entire context of what you're thinking. So you give like, you know, the tiniest point about what's being said right now and then I can look back later and see how the person who heard that might have really benefited from more context or been put off because it sounds like you're simplifying something when you don't really feel that way. You're just trying to be concise. I don't know if does that all make sense or not, but I'm aware of that. But at the same time, the podcast also has to be. It has to flow and it has to be entertaining and every thought can't get broken down for 10 minutes. And anyway, it's just, it's interesting to me that you have so much time with a, with a child with type one, then you get to re. Experience it the way you did with your son, and then now you have this personal experience. Like you said, it's just an interesting story. It's a, it's a bit of a different pathway. Can I ask you, do you have worries about your own health moving forward? Like, what are your expectations for the rest of your life?

[Mike]

You know, I. So I had a really scary low last year, 34. And it was more. The lantus went direct into a cell and hit right away. So there was 12 units that just injected me and within 20 minutes you.

[Scott]

Hit like a blood vessel with your, with your slow acting insulin.

[Mike]

Yeah, yeah, I hit a blood vessel because I was working. I work from home. I have for, oh, I don't know, about 10 years now. So I worked from home. I was staring at my computer and, you know, the vision got really weird. I hadn't done anything different than what I do any other day. I had my yogurt, my coffee. I was staring at the computer pretty intently. Vision started going weird. I looked out the window, looked back, and it still didn't clear up. And then, of course, then the alarms went off. I immediately finger pricked. And I was 34 and I yelled for my daughter to go get my wife and she came in and I thought I was in survival mode at that. What's that?

[Scott]

You thought you were going down?

[Mike]

Oh, I was going down. I was sitting on the floor trying to open gummy bears. I didn't realize how bad, how hard gummy bears can be to open when your sugar level's at a 34. But it dropped me from 120 to 34 in 20 minutes.

[Scott]

Wow.

[Mike]

So it was. I was coming down really fast. I didn't think a human person could sweat that much without working out. I remember when I finally came out of it, I was just completely soaked. So in that one. That was pretty hard, understanding that. Had a great positive experience with a dog on that experience. And so, yeah, I Have incremental steps, you know, pretty well controlled. We've talked about, you know, how, you know, you typically 98 to 99 in range. Part of me at 56, I'm like, well, at least now I know what's probably, you know, I'm gonna die one day from some side effect of diabetes. I might be 95 or so, but you know, it's there now that I'm on a pump. I was doing MDI, so at the beginning of this year when my A1C was at 5 5, they decided like, okay, we have to get you. It was taking more lantus than fast acting and they wanted to switch it. They were like, you're having too many lows. It's interesting when I'm on a bike and I'm going, my heart rate's, let's say 160, my blood sugars will spike, I won't drop. I'll actually go up really high. I remember one time I was mountain biking up in the mountains and for 30 minutes I heard my Dexcom alarm go off because I was 250, 275 the whole time. When I go hiking or I walk my dogs, that's when I go low and I can drop from, let's say 120 to 80 within 20 minutes. So one of the things they wanted to do was back off the Lantis and start doing more fast acting insulin. And that actually raised my A1C. I was in Destin, Florida for a wedding in May and at the wedding, at night when I, I think I put my 12th shot in my leg, I said, that's it, it's, it's time to go to a pump. Ordered my pump when I got back into Utah and started 7-1-actually of this year.

[Scott]

What'd you get?

[Mike]

So I don't, I got the Moby.

[Scott]

How you like it?

[Mike]

Yeah, I really like it. I love the software. I like seeing how it works.

[Scott]

Awesome.

[Mike]

When it gives automatic boluses, seeing how the basal rate turns off at night. Tubing never bothered me. I actually didn't want to go with the Omnipod because I quite frankly, I just didn't want another big thing hanging off me. Because, you know, cycling, you're wearing, you know, tight spandex clothes, you know, outfit and everything. So I just didn't want to another device hanging off me.

[Scott]

You wear the mobi clipped onto your clothing?

[Mike]

Yeah, yeah, I just clip it on. I have the 23 inch tube. I tried the 5 inch tube. That, that about drove me nuts. I only did that Once. So the MOBI doesn't bother me at all. I sleep with it on, that's all. I think the MOBI is actually really good. My daughter and my son are both on a T slim and my brother in law who was diagnosed last year is on the Omnipod.

[Scott]

No, well, let me just say tandem diabetes.com juicebox omnipod.com juicebox twist.com juicebox and medtronicdiabetes.com juicebox. You want a pump, Please use one of my links. That's all I got there, Mike. Thank you for letting me inject that.

[Mike]

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I think the Moby is fantastic, especially with the cgm. And if this pump died tomorrow, I'd go get another movie. It just wouldn't be a question.

[Scott]

It's great to hear people find stuff that jives with how they live and works the way they want it to. It's just the greatest thing. So I'm thrilled.

[Mike]

Yeah, Yeah. I was apprehensive, though I can admit. I really wanted to go with the T Slim and I think that part of that was my age of having a pump that didn't have a screen or anything and I had to rely on a cell phone. That part kind of bothered me at first. And then when I just kind of saw maybe a little coaxing from my wife of giving the MOBI a try, I'm really glad I went with the Moby.

[Scott]

Awesome, awesome. That's great. I'm very happy for you. Let's see what else we good? I mean, have we done it as they say, or is there something we've left? I can't imagine we've left something out. Is there anybody left you're related to that could get diabetes?

[Mike]

Well, unfortunately there is my daughter. I want her to go get tested. I want her to get the antibody test so we, if she has that, we can get her, you know, the proper medication to try and push that off.

[Scott]

That's what was in my head. Did she respond well to that when you suggested or how does she feel about it?

[Mike]

He responded really well. I told her because she told me that her primary physician said that she doesn't have a danger of being in, didn't want to do it. And I said, let me know, my endocrinologist will set you up with a cart and they'll order the labs for you. She did it for my wife and she'll do it for her too. I said, let me know, I'll even drive you over there. We'll go get it done. If we can push this off as long as possible. Let's do it. She's very open to it. She lives about 70 miles away from me, and so she does want to do it. So we're going to take her into my endocrinologist and get that done.

[Scott]

Strange for the doctor to say that. That, I mean, you know, two of her three siblings have type one, and sadly, you don't know if the third one might have gotten it at some point. You know, you didn't have the opportunity to know that. Like, weird to think that it's not worth looking into. You know what I mean? Like, it seems obvious to me that it's a possibility.

[Mike]

Yeah. Especially when you have, you know, your father, who was diagnosed in his 50s.

[Scott]

On top of everything else.

[Mike]

Yeah, yeah. Legitimate. So I. I really do want to get her tested. I don't know how much time we have, but I do have a great story of a dog story.

[Scott]

I'll finish with a dog story. Mike, go ahead.

[Mike]

All right. So we have a house in southern Utah, and I would go hiking with my dogs a lot. They're both standard poodles. They'll be three years old this September, and they're brother and sister. And the sister is. Her name's Delilah. And I took her hiking on a Saturday. And my wife and I, we did four and a half miles. And the next day I got home from a 2 1/2, 3 hour bike ride. My wife was not home. So I said, I ate. My blood Sugars were about 190. And I said, all right, let's go for a hike. And we hiked up to a top of a mesa, which is about a thousand vertical feet. About three quarters of the way up, she started looking back at me, and I was like, I'm okay. I thought maybe I broke her from the day before. And then about five minutes from the top, she just stopped and sat down. And I pet her. I'm like, you're okay. You're all right. I'm sorry I broke you. And then we went. And then the vision started going. I went, oh, my gosh, I'm going low.

[Scott]

Oh, she's trying to get you to stop.

[Mike]

Yeah. So I knew once I got to the top, I'd be okay because my heart rate would come down and I'd be okay. So we pushed to the top, and sure enough, it went away. When I really went low last December, I didn't realize this at the time, but when I was sitting on the floor sweating, Delilah was right there, just staring at Me, and I didn't put it together or anything. And then three weeks later, I was down southern Utah again, hiking, and I started going lower, and all of a sudden she kept looking back at me, looking back at me. And then I put it together. And so whenever I drop low, if we're out hiking or walking, she will alert me 10 to 15 minutes before that I am dropping. And I assure him, okay, but she's naturally a diabetic alert dog. She won't wake me up or anything. But when we're out hiking, the lower I go, she will actually at some point just sit and stop and walk into life.

[Scott]

Isn't that awesome? That's really. Do you ever say to her, hey there, Delilah?

[Mike]

Oh, yeah, all the time.

[Scott]

I would do. Does that start you singing the song?

[Mike]

Yep. Yeah, but she's great. So we actually looked at having her professionally trained and at the end of the day, we decided not to do it. Typically they do that with puppies, not 3 year olds. But when they evaluated her, they actually really thought, okay. Yep, she is an alert dog. We feel that we could get her, but I'm not uncontrolled enough to pay $11,000.

[Scott]

Listen, you can't teach speed. That dog's a natural. Okay?

[Mike]

Yeah, exactly. She is a natural. And I think part of that was even when she was a younger puppy, one of her favorite games was to play hide and go seek in the house. And so she could find me in a closet, she would sniff me out. And so she's always really been in tune. But we didn't realize that until a few episodes in that she can recognize low blood sugars, which is really amazing.

[Scott]

Is that breed known for that or no?

[Mike]

Yeah, we actually read that they say one of the better diabetic alert dogs are poodles.

[Scott]

About that. My parents had a poodle when I was born. Not born well, I guess born when they brought me home. I'm adopted. And the dog, like, went after me one time and my mom, like, got rid of the dog and. Oh, wow. Yeah, I've been told that story so many times because my mom loved that dog. Apparently that was it. Like my. That's the story I was always told. Like, my mom's like, no, I wasn't going to let her go after you. I believe the dog's name was Gigi, if I'm. If I'm not mistaken.

[Mike]

Yeah, I think poodles are great. I had one and she died about a year before we got the new ones. And she was 17. She was my Girl went everywhere with me. You know, if I was out dinner, I would tell my wife like, we gotta hurry up and go home. I gotta go home and play with Lily. That was my whole thing was going home and playing with her. And she died at 17. And it took me a long time to get another dog. But I'm all about the poodle breeds. I think they're amazing dogs.

[Scott]

Yeah, 17 is a nice long life for a dog.

[Mike]

You know, if I felt I got cheated, I felt I should have had another 17 years.

[Scott]

Yeah, no, I can imagine. Well, Mike, you have a really good way about you. I enjoyed this.

[Mike]

Me too.

[Scott]

What do you do for a living?

[Mike]

So I am director for a company that we do. We build data centers.

[Scott]

Okay.

[Mike]

So the power side of data centers. So like battery backup, energy type systems. So if the data center goes down, we still keep it up and running. So I'm a director, I have a sales team and a project management team and we design and build data centers around the critical infrastructure.

[Scott]

Well, it's really something. Is AI going to put a real drain on power the way they're talking about it? And do you guys, are you guys working on battery backup for that? I wouldn't imagine you could even, can you even approximate that kind of power?

[Mike]

You know, it's interesting when you look at where what we call is a network rack of what the power capacity used to be for a network rack, say five years ago to where it is today. Back then, let's say 3 to 5 kilowatts per rack was a lot. Well, now you're talking anywhere from 100 to 500 kilowatts per rack.

[Scott]

Really.

[Mike]

And so the strain that it puts on those batteries, of course everything's going lithium ion battery. When the AI servers spool up, they bring in so much power that actually sometimes the utility can't even keep up. And they actually end up hitting battery backup systems to look for that power. So there's, there's a lot of strain on it. But data centers will never go away. If anything, they're getting more and more popular. They're popping up everywhere. It's an exciting time in our world. The actual hardest thing is now is it's not so much getting power to those systems, it's actually keeping them cool. That's going to be the challenge, is keeping all those systems cool. Because if they overheat, of course they can't function. And how do you keep that much coolness around? So there's like direct to chip, you can do immersion. It just Goes on. That's a whole three hour podcast right there. It's exciting.

[Scott]

Do you think the way that we create power is going to have to change to keep up with it? Because I'm asking specifically, do you think that people are going to have to look at more nuclear options to generate electricity?

[Mike]

That's the way the industry is looking. When you get into like Meta, Microsoft, Apple, all of those, they are looking at starting to do some type of nuclear reactor type things. Many reactors to power those because of the amount of power draw. It's interesting. Data centers used to go to certain areas. Now data centers look for wherever there's available power. So that seems to be what they're looking for. If there's a utility that has an extra, say, 400 megawatts of power, that's where a data center is going. So that's where they look.

[Scott]

You're going to see the centers popping up where the energy already exists.

[Mike]

Yep.

[Scott]

Yeah, absolutely. That's going to be how they pick their real estate. That's interesting. And you're not really limited. I mean, our data center is limited by distance. Not anymore. Right. Because of the speed of the Internet. Doesn't really matter, does it?

[Mike]

Not anymore.

[Scott]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Yeah. And that's the way it used to be used to want to put like data centers and populated areas. And now with latency, it's just not really an issue. And so now they're popping up and what you're seeing is a lot of modular power containers that we can just populate all around the country wherever we can get data centers. And so it's a changing landscape. And it's really exciting because we talked a little bit earlier, the way technology's changed over, let's say the last 10, 20, 30 years. It's almost like a year now is really only like a month. It's just going so fast. It's changing so quickly.

[Scott]

Yeah. Maybe one day it'll just be like back to the future and we'll all have our own. Our own little reactor.

[Mike]

We almost.

[Scott]

Wait that again, Mike.

[Mike]

It's almost going to be that way.

[Scott]

Right.

[Mike]

Like it just has to. Power is going to be the biggest thing drivers. But it also, as a consumer, it's scary too, because is my utility rate going up because of all these data centers because they have to add capacity. You might see that too, your electric bill going up because they got to build more infrastructure to support the data center.

[Scott]

My electric bill is definitely higher than it was a year and a half ago.

[Mike]

Absolutely. I asked my wife last night. She said, yeah, we were about $500 a month. Yeah, like, ouch.

[Scott]

I see it climbing for sure. So. All right, well, that's, that's definitely a different conversation, but I appreciate you sharing that with me. Thank you. I just, you're, you're, you know, good at talking and you said before we got got going that you speak a lot at work, but I didn't ask you for what. So that's interesting.

[Mike]

I'm on the phone all the time and my wife, she's just. Yeah, she'll tell you I can talk to anybody all day long.

[Scott]

Well, it's a, I think it's a great skill to have. It's. It's propelling me through my adulthood. So thank you.

[Mike]

Absolutely.

[Scott]

Yeah. I really appreciate this, man. Hold on one second for me. Thank you.

[Mike]

Foreign.

[Scott]

This episode of the Juice Box Podcast is sponsored by the Contour Next Gen Blood Glucose Meter. Learn more and get started [e-mail] juicebox thanks for tuning in today and thanks to Medtronic Diabetes for sponsoring this episode. We've been talking About Medtronic's mini MED7 780G system today, an automated insulin delivery system that helps make diabetes management easier day and night. Whether it's their meal detection technology or the Medtronic extended infusion set, it all comes together to simplify life with diabetes. Go find out more at my link medtronicdiabetes.com juicebox I can't thank you enough for listening. Please make sure you're subscribed or following in your audio app. I'll be back tomorrow with another episode of the Juice Box Podcast. Check out my Algorithm Pumping series to help you make sense of automated insulin delivery systems like Omnipod 5 Loop, Medtronic 780G Twist, Tandem Control IQ and much more. Each episode will dive into the setup, features and real world usage tips that can transform your daily type 1 diabetes management. We cut through the jargon, share personal experiences, and show you how these algorithms can simplify and streamline your care. If you're curious about automated insulin pumping, go find the Algorithm Pumping series in the Juice Box podcast easiest way juiceboxpodcast.com and go up into the menu. Click on series and it'll be right there. If you're looking for community around type 1 diabetes, check out the Juice Box Podcast. Private Facebook Group juice box podcast type 1 diabetes but everybody is welcome. Type 1 type 2 gestational loved ones it doesn't matter to me if you're impacted by diabetes and you're looking for support, comfort or community, check out juice box podcast type 1 diabetes on Facebook. The episode you just heard was professionally edited by wrong way recording wrongwayrecording.com.