← Juicebox Podcast: Type 1 Diabetes
Juicebox Podcast: Type 1 Diabetes
#1646 Engineering Mind
01:06:10
An engineer dad shares his daughter’s type 1 diabetes diagnosis, his data-driven approach to mastering management, and how technology, persistence, and the Juicebox Podcast transformed their journey toward independence and control. Free (non...
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- [00:00]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Hello friends, and welcome back to another episode of the Juice Box Podcast.
- [00:15]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah, my name is Mitch. I'm the parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic and I'm 48 years old and I'm from Illinois.
- [00:24]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
This episode of the Juice Box Podcast is sponsored by Skin Grip, durable skin safe adhesive that lasts your diabetes devices, they can fall off easily sometimes, especially when you're bathing or very active. When those devices fall off, your life is disrupted and it costs you money. But Skin Grip patches, they keep your devices secure. Skingrip was founded by a family directly impacted by type 1 and it's trusted by hundreds of thousands of individuals living with diabetes. Juicebox Podcast listeners are going to get 20% off of their first order by visiting skingrip.com juicebox 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. While you're listening, please remember that 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 or becoming bold with insulin. The show you're about to listen to is sponsored by the Eversense 365. The Eversense 365 has exceptional accuracy over one year and is the most accurate CGM in the low range that you can get. Eversensecgm.com juicebox A huge thanks to my longest sponsor, Omnipod. Check out the Omnipod 5 now with my link omnipod.com juicebox you you may be eligible for a free starter kit, a free Omnipod 5 starter kit at my link. Go check it out. Omnipod.com Juicebox terms and conditions apply. Full terms and conditions can be found@ omnipod.com juicebox yeah, my name is Mitch.
- [02:31]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
I'm the parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic and I'm 48 years old and I'm from Illinois.
- [02:38]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Mitch, are you the parent or did you mean to use the word caregiver and then was disappointed in yourself when you said parent?
- [02:44]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Well, no, I'm the parent. I'm her father and I used to be her caregiver but now she's 18 years old and started college. So you know, I'm there when she needs me.
- [02:53]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
I understand, I understand. So you're always gonna be her parent, but you're starting to feel like maybe you're not as involved in the diabetes stuff?
- [03:00]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yes. Yeah.
- [03:01]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
How do you feel about that?
- [03:03]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
You know, it was different because I was very, very involved in the beginning. My daughter was diagnosed August 8th of 20. Was very much involved for, until, you know, for the first couple of years. She very, I mean in the beginning she quickly learned it, it didn't take too long, but so, you know, now that she's at college, you know, that was nerve wracking for me. But she's doing very, very well. Had a little bit of a hiccup earlier this week. Never happened before, Waited too long to change her pod. Blood sugar got really high and I called her and she didn't answer because she was on hold with her local children's hospital with her endo. So that made me very proud that she took care of that herself and talked to the nurse very quickly. Got it back down. But yeah, she's doing a great job.
- [03:52]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
That is awesome. Was she about 14 or 15 when she was diagnosed?
- [03:56]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah, she was 14.
- [03:57]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Do you have other kids?
- [03:59]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
I do, I have an 11 year old son.
- [04:01]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Anybody else have autoimmune stuff going on in the family?
- [04:04]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
You know, I've been thinking about this this morning. My ex mother in law has some thyroid issues. But when this diagnosis happened, I just never dreamed that it would be type one because we, we don't have any of that in our family.
- [04:17]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Yeah. You hadn't seen type 1 before just.
- [04:19]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
And seen type 1. I thought that oh, she can't be diabetic because she can't be a type one because we don't have that in our family. I didn't know that, you know, spontaneously it happens.
- [04:28]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Yeah. Or that maybe autoimmune stuff travels in families too.
- [04:33]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah.
- [04:33]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
And everybody gets a different thing, you know, your ex mother in law. How long have you been divorced?
- [04:38]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Tomorrow actually will be three years.
- [04:40]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Oh, do I congratulate you or are you sad? Which would you prefer?
- [04:43]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Either way, it's fine. So. So think things. Things are going great. So it was not, not expected, but it happens.
- [04:51]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
So you got. I'm sorry to ask, but your, your marriage broke up soon after your daughter's diagnosis.
- [04:57]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
It actually did. So she was diagnosed in August of 21 and we separated in February of.
- [05:04]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
22, in July of 21. Did you have any inkling that you might not be married anymore soon?
- [05:11]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
You know, we were having. Definitely having some issues, but didn't really think that that was going to happen? No.
- [05:16]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Okay. Do you think that did. I hate to say this, but, like, because I'm not blaming your daughter, but do you think that the diabetes made things, I don't know, worked as an accelerant on your issue, or do you not see them as related?
- [05:29]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
I would say accelerant. Probably not necessarily the actual diabetes, per se, but me being the primary caregiver, a lot of lack of sleep in the beginning. I'm an engineer, so I dug deep into this disease and said, I'm going to figure this out, and spent a lot of nights watching the dexcom. Understanding when this thing first started, being an engineer, I wanted to know, how quickly can the blood sugar drop? How quickly can this happen? You know, I'm watching a trend curve. Even before we had the Dexcom, I was writing stuff down, you know, writing numbers down and visualizing.
- [06:07]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Making your own chart.
- [06:08]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah, trying to make my own chart. Yeah. Before I even knew what a Dexcom was and I got a Dexcom, I was like, oh, my gosh, this is amazing. How in the world did you know? You, like, you started out when Arden was so young. How in the world did you survive without this thing? Yeah. So there was a lot of sleepless nights, a lot of honeymooning. There's no way you can really figure out honeymooning, but. And then we were on Atlantis before we got on a pump, and she was very active. She was in volleyball and competitive dance. So that was a constant challenge.
- [06:37]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Yeah.
- [06:38]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah.
- [06:38]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
So during COVID I did group zooms during COVID that were huge, like, 3, 400 people. They acted like. Like an AA meeting for people with diabetes almost is what it felt like sometimes. I don't know why. Like, during zoom, people were very cool, like, nobody wants to do that anymore, which is fine. But anyway, the point of it is that there was this woman that would come up every week, and she was really struggling. You could see people trying to help her. I tried to help her. Everybody was trying to help her, but she didn't have a cgm, and she kind of couldn't imagine everything that was going on. So I had her make a plot. I had her plot out her blood sugars. Then I was like, okay, now just draw a line from the one on the left to the next one on the right and keep doing that. And I said, it's not exactly like a cgm, but here's the basic idea of what's happening to your blood sugar and. And just seeing those lines, like, oh, it was raising up here, it was coming down here. She was like, two weeks later doing so much better. It was really. And you're like, you listen, you've said twice, I'm an engineer. The first time, I thought you were going to say, I'm an engineer. I'm difficult. That's how I ended up divorced. But.
- [07:39]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
But you were definitely difficult.
- [07:42]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
All right. But instead, you, you know, you were like, I'm going to try to figure out how the insulin works. And I thought that was pretty brilliant. Like, you know, like, let's first understand the action of this thing so that we can. I'm assuming your thought was, once I understand what it does, I'll learn how to stop it from doing it or make it do it.
- [07:58]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yes.
- [07:59]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Yeah. That's brilliant.
- [08:00]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah. Very good. Yeah. Because when I learned. When they explained to me, honey, of course, I had all these terms thrown at me when this first happened and they were honeymooning, and, I mean, you were mentioned. I said, you need to get on the Juice Box podcast. I wasn't really a podcast guy. One of the nurses at our children's hospital recommended that. And I thought, man, I've got to get on here because I've got so many questions, and these people, these doctors, these nurses, they don't have time for this. And I want to figure this thing out. And I remember the first time I got the Dexcom, and I started watching every five minutes or whatever, and I'm like, okay, because my earliest fear was, how fast is it going to drop? Because you're afraid of getting too low, and how fast is it going to go up? Anyway, there was a lot to figure out, a lot of research, because I knew about type 1. I had a very basic understanding of it, but not enough to. I remember even thinking before she got diagnosed, I thought, oh, I should, like, the night before, I should test her blood sugar. And then I would wake up the next day and forget about it. And, you know, I wish I would have done that earlier because, you know, when she was diagnosed, her A1C was 15 and she was in severe DKA. It was scary.
- [09:11]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
But, yeah, if you're thinking before someone tells you she has diabetes, and you told me you didn't think it could be diabetes, what was happening to her? How long was it happening that you actually thought, like, I should get a.
- [09:23]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Meter, you know, August 8th, Sunday morning, that's when I took her to the ER that summer. I mean. I mean, even as early as the early part of June. And I didn't suspect anything in June, but She was losing some weight. Not June, I guess she wasn't, but in June she, she went on a trip with her mom. They went to like several beaches around Florida. And every time I was talking to her, she's like, oh, I've been taking lots of naps and we have to stop and I have to stop and pee regularly. And I'm like, oh wow, you're finally drinking more water. Because I push water on my kids all the time. Even before this, even before diabetes. Okay, well she's drinking water like she's supposed to, and she's losing some weight because she's getting older. Well then practice started and early June, right after she got back from her trip, she had to go to volleyball practice. Volleyball conditioning at like 8am at the high school. And she did that for like an hour and a half and then she had an hour break and then she had competitive dance practice for like three hours. And then she had a couple hour break and then she had full on volleyball practice for like two hours.
- [10:31]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Wow.
- [10:32]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
So you know, she was doing all this exercising like she's never done before. She was losing weight. I didn't really notice her losing weight until maybe around mid June to July. And she'd already lost some weight even before then, some. And I just thought it was, you know, she's getting older. This is just part of it. She's getting taller.
- [10:50]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
She's your oldest, right? So this is your first experience with all this, right?
- [10:54]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah, absolutely. And I always thought she would be the healthy one. I mean, had issues with my son, other issues with eyes and whatnot. And well, this is my healthy one because she really doesn't get sick very often at all and still doesn't get sick very often. You know, all the practices are going on and maybe a couple weeks before practice start, our IHSA dead week at the high school where they don't have any practice except for band stuff. And I remember her in the refrigerator late at night and she just kept going back and forth the refrigerator. I got up and I said, and she was drinking milk and I said, do I need to make you some food or what? And she's like, I'm just really hungry and thirsty. I don't know what's going on. I'm like, well, you're doing all this exercise, did you eat much today? And she said, well, I got kind of nauseated at volleyball practice and so I didn't eat a whole lot, so maybe that's what it is. Well then I remember hearing her pee from all the way across the room, you know, she had the door shut. And I'm like, holy cow. You know, that's the one time where I thought, you know, maybe, maybe I should get a glucometer and see what her. I didn't even know it was called a glucometer, but you know, see what her blood sugar is, Mitch, because of.
- [12:00]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
The, of the noise from the urination. Like, because she was, it was so much.
- [12:05]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah, it was just so much volume. And she was, she was drinking, you know, she was drinking a lot. And then I remember maybe 30 minutes later, she got imped again. And I remembered at that moment I thought, oh yeah, the trip. I remember she said she was urinating a lot. So this is like the week, maybe the week before she started getting sick. Like I really started noticing her getting sick. And she wasn't really sick up until then, but once in a while she'd say, oh, I got nauseated at practice. I thought I was going to throw up. I said, well, were you running? She said, yeah, I was running. Which I didn't even know vomiting was a symptom of type 1. And then once that IHSA dead week got there, well, she stopped all of her exercise and she went to band camp. And that's when she got sick. Okay, I remember that Monday band camp started and she was okay. But then Tuesday she started. She's just like, I don't feel good. And I thought, man, she's really lost some weight. You know, there was no, like vomiting at that point because she wasn't as active, I'm assuming, you know, all the activity stopped and then her blood sugar just spiked. I'm assuming is what happened.
- [13:06]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
It's a reasonable thought. I mean, and then you're saying by the time you got her to the hospital she was. Her A1C was 15. This episode is brought to you by Omnipod. Would you ever buy a car without test driving at first? That's a big risk to take on a pretty large investment. You wouldn't do that, right? So why would you do it? When it comes to choosing an insulin pump, most pumps come with a four year lock in period through the DME channel and you don't even get to try it first. But not Omnipod 5. Omnipod 5 is available exclusively through the pharmacy, which means it doesn't come with a typical four year DME lock in period. Plus you can get started with a free 30 day trial to be sure it's the right choice for you or your family. My daughter has been wearing an Omnipod every day for 17 years. Are you ready to give Omnipod5 a try? Request your free starter kit today at my link omnipod.com Juicebox terms and conditions apply. Eligibility may vary. Full terms and conditions can be found@ omnipod.com juicebox find my link in the show Notes of this podcast player or@juiceboxpodcast.com when you think of a CGM and all the good that it brings in your life is the first thing you think about. I love that I have to change it all the time. I love the warm up period every time I have to change it. I love that when I bump into a door frame sometimes it gets ripped off. I love that the adhesive kind of gets mushy sometimes when I sweat and falls off. No, these are not the things that you love about a cgm. Today's episode of the Juice Box Podcast is sponsored by the Eversense365, the only CGM that you only have to put on once a year and the only CGM that won't give you any of those problems. The Eversense 365 is the only one year CGM designed to minimize device frustration. It has exceptional accuracy for one year with almost no false alarms from compression lows while you're sleeping. You can manage your diabetes instead of your CGM with the Eversense365. Learn more and get started today at eversensecgm.com Juicebox 1 Year 1 CGM yeah.
- [15:19]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
So Saturday, Saturday night I remember I took the family out to Joe's Pizza and she didn't really eat much and she got done. We were coming home and her respirations were fast and she was sitting in my passenger seat. My wife at the time was driving our son. We were in separate vehicles and I said why are you breathing quickly? And she still hadn't had Covid at this point and I thought, well is it difficult for you to breathe? And she said no, I just can't really get my breath. And she was breathing fast. And so we got home, I did a COVID test on her. I said, I checked her fever. She didn't have a fever that Saturday morning. She had woke up and she looked really swollen in her face. There was two things going on. She looked really swollen in her face. She felt terrible. I said, do you have a sinus infection? She said no, but I fell asleep first. She had a bunch of friends over Friday night and Saturday morning she woke up and said she fell Asleep. First I'm like, okay. So then I'm really watching Saturday Night. She's doing the fast respirations. I look at her arms and her arms have, like, purple splotches on them. And I said, wow. I said, how long has that been there? She said, well, I don't know. I just noticed it. And I said, wow, you look really skinny. She said, yeah, I'm eating plenty, but I'm not feeling good at all. And anyway, so we got home and we talked, and I said, okay, if you're not better tomorrow. I said, we're going to go to the er. And she woke up the next morning and she had the splotches even on her legs. And she said, I just feel there's something wrong. I feel absolutely horrible. And so I said, all right. Get you a drink? Well, she grabs a quart of regular Gatorade and like, full sugar Gatorade, and we head to the er. And, you know, just by chance, I went to the. The smaller hospital that is less crowded. And we get there and they take her back immediately. And I go in to see the doctor and doctor's like, ask her some questions. He's like, two minutes. And he's like, okay, you know your name's Mitch. I said, yeah. He said, give me about 15 minutes. I really think I know what's wrong with your daughter, but I'm not going to say anything until we run some tests. You know, 15 minutes. He comes back and he's like, well, I got one more test to run. First of all, she's positive for mono. He said, but I don't think that's the problem. He said, there's definitely something else here. I'm waiting for about another five minutes. So she's positive for mono. He comes back and he says, your daughter's A1, C is 15 and her blood sugar is 610. He said, your daughter is a type 1 diabetic. And I'm like, wait a minute. I mean, this is the mono, right? Doesn't the mono somehow affect the pancreas or something? This is temporary, right? He said, no, your daughter's a type 1 diabetic. He raises up the sleeve of his shirt and he says, and he points to his Dexcom. He says, I'm a type 1 diabetic. He said, I've lived a normal life. I'm a doctor. He said, your daughter is going to live a normal life. Everything's going to be fine. He said, it's going to be a big adjustment for a few months, but you guys can do it. Which children's hospital do you want me to have? Come and get her? He said, because she is in severe DKA at this point, she was kind of not really lucid. She was a little bit out of it. Not just really not present. You know, she was awake. He was very concerned. And we picked the hospital that we had experience with. The team came, and I remember they had her take a potassium pill because her potassium was way low because she was, I guess, severely dehydrated, was terrible at swallowing pills, and swallowed this big, giant pill. You know, she actually swallowed it and she remembers that. But anyway, I just. I thank God that we ended up going to that hospital, because usually people don't go to that hospital. And, you know, I heard this podcast she did the other day of the. Of the kid that the hospital didn't recognize that he was a type 1 and sent him home and even checked his blood sugar and it was like 500. And they sent him home anyway. But, you know, I'm just so thankful that this guy was a type one and he was there to tell me at the time, hey, I'm a doctor. You know, she's going to live a normal life. You know, I worry about people that don't have that, you know, and. Or they don't have a doctor like we did at Children's that said, oh, you need to find the Juice Box podcast. You need to listen to that guy. Because, I mean, you. Your podcast saved me. I mean, without having that source and that, you know, that information, I wouldn't have had somebody to answer all my questions. And, you know, you did all the special series that. The name escapes me right now, but, you know, I appreciate it. Pro tip series. But anyway, oh, great thanks to you. And, you know, great thanks to God how the diagnosis came out. Because if I'd gone to a hospital that didn't have a type one, who knows what would have happened, but might.
- [19:55]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Have sat a little. I mean, they would have. I mean, something would have gotten figured out. It sounds like she was really at the end of. Did they give you an idea how much longer she would have been conscious?
- [20:04]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
They said it was. It was one of the. It was a pretty. Pretty severe case. They told me what her. You know, the. The ph of her blood was or whatever that number is. And I remember they said it was in the severe level, like it was below. It was in the acidic side. But the good thing is, you know, he got her on the right. You know, he got her on insulin and dextrose or whatever. Right then. And then we got her to the hospital and she was only in the hospital for three days. And then after the third day, she still had some ketones and she's like, how do I get out of here? And they're like, just keep drinking water, keep drinking water, she said, because they said, you're not going to get out until your ketones get into the small range. So she's like, I want to go to school tomorrow. Because it was her first day of high school, she was going to be a freshman. And so we got out of there and she ended up making it to her first day of high school even after being in the hospital for three days.
- [20:54]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
So quite a turnaround. I was sitting here wondering how long she was in because of all the different test results and how far along she was even striking as you're telling the story, and I'm sure you've been over this in your head a thousand times, but purple welts, significant weight loss, urinating strangely and constantly falling asleep all the time, doesn't feel well, blah, blah, blah. Like if I walked up to you right now and said, hey, I'm around another human being and listed all those things, what do you think I should do? You would say, I think we should take him to the hospital.
- [21:25]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah, yeah.
- [21:26]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
But when it's happening to you slowly like that, it doesn't occur that way. The Kussmaul respirations at the end, Like, I've been emotional since you brought that up because I'm sitting here right now and like clear as day in my head, I can see my, you know, my now 21 year old daughter as a 2 year old, I can see her laying on my wife's lap and breathing like that.
- [21:50]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Oh, really?
- [21:51]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Yeah, just as clear as day. And I remember sitting there, not like until it struck us what was wrong with her for the week before that. No one said, like, that's weird. You know what I mean? Like, she's acting. All we would say was, she. She seems like she doesn't feel well.
- [22:06]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah.
- [22:07]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
You know, and instead she's dying. Like literally.
- [22:10]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Oh yeah.
- [22:12]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
And you're just like, huh, that's interesting. And it just, it's weird how it never. I don't know, I don't know what that is about us, that we. I have so much hope and the body's so resilient. Like, think of all the things that are happening to your daughter or happening to my daughter while they're being diagnosed before they are. And they just, they keep Going, you know what I mean? Like, it's pretty fascinating, honestly.
- [22:34]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Wow.
- [22:34]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
You did a great job, man. Getting. Working through all that. Were you by yourself in the hospital that night or was your son and your. And your ex there as well?
- [22:41]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
My wife at the time was there. I took her Sunday and we had a family group chat. I'm like, okay, she's a type one. You know, at the time, I told my wife, at the time, I said, pack a bag. Pack my bag. You know, they said, we're going to be gone at least three days to Children's. You know, the emergency. I mean, the ambulance from children's was coming to pick her up, and then my ex wife's like, oh, wow, the ambulance is coming. I said, yeah, it's bad because I told the doctor, I said, well, can I just drive her there? I said it would be quicker. And he said, no, he said, you're not driving her there. He said, the ambulance is going to come and pick her up.
- [23:15]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Yeah, we need somebody with her constantly that can save her life in case this goes the rest of the way south.
- [23:20]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah. And, you know, if she hadn't have been in dance and volleyball and pre practices a day, and then if she hadn't got mono, because the mono is what really got me looking at her because her face was swollen and I'm thinking she had some kind of sinus infection. You know, all these things kind of came together to where we got her there on time or. Yeah, it could have been.
- [23:42]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
No, you did. Yeah, well, it wasn't. And so there you go. That's pretty great. And she goes to high school. First day of high school, she makes it in.
- [23:51]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
First day of high school, she makes it in. Yeah, doesn't have the Dexcom yet because, you know, this is day four and I'm already learning about. You know, I've listened to enough podcasts where I've heard about 504 and I knew the nurse. I go to the church with the nurse. I'm like, you know, we got to get this started. Please tell all of our teachers I'm trying to get a Dexcom. You know, you're going to have to help me convince her to check her blood sugar. You know, tell the, you know, tell the teachers to watch out for signs. And fortunately, the nurse at the school, her husband is a type one, so she knows quite a bit about it.
- [24:24]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Okay, well, that's helpful. You keep running into type ones in very valuable situations. I mean, I heard in your voice how much it meant for you for that Doctor to have type one. And just to say to you, like, look, me, I'm a doctor, I have type 1 diabetes. Like, your kid will be okay. And yeah, it's a big deal for you right there. Yeah, yeah, it's huge when you start digging in. First of all, thanks to whoever at the. I mean, it's a pretty big children's hospital. So I appreciate that you guys are telling people about the, about the podcast over there. I think I have a general idea of where you are. Somebody tells you about that. The words that I hear every day of my life. I'm not a podcast person. But you made it to it anyway because you're looking for, I imagine you're looking for information. This person co signed on it. So you thought it was worth trying.
- [25:08]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yes.
- [25:09]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Yeah. So tell me about not just the podcast, but everything that you did in those first weeks to try to get your knowledge base up.
- [25:18]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Well, I mean, it started at the hospital. I mean, our hospital was great. They made us do the calculations. They had a, they had a dry erase piece of paper that was laminated. And they said, all right, you're going to do the calculations. You know, we're going to do the carb counts for you. And they told me, they said, you know, you need to get on calorie king or you need to, you need to Google search and get used to counting carbs. And so they brought our food in and they said, here's how many carbs it is. You do the calculation. Because before that we had somebody come in with on a whiteboard and teach us the calculation. Which, honestly, for me, I'm not. It's pretty simple for me, but it's not simple for everybody. And it's, I'm not trying to brag or anything, but I'm a math, I'm kind of a math guy, right? So that part was easy. But then, so I did that and then I'm thinking in my head, oh, so we've got to do a correction based on her current blood sugar. So I've, you know, we have to finger stick her. Every time I'm hearing this word. You know, when they're going through, they're talking about honeymooning. I'm thinking, well, what if her pancreas kicks in? You know, so we're going to have to watch how often am I going to have to check her blood sugar? And, and I still really haven't learned much about the Dexcom, but they're telling me about it. So anyway, we do the calculation. They show me how to do the pin needle and I've got to give her a shot the first time. And I'm like, no, I don't want to do this. This is difficult. My daughter's like, just stick it in my stomach. Just give me a shot. You're not going to hurt me. So fortunately, my daughter was fine with it. And so anyway, I gave her the first shot and then all the teaching kind of ends and I'm like, okay, now what do I do? And I remembered, you know, then a couple of the nurses saying, you know, because I'm asking all these questions, I'm asking so many questions that when the team of doctors came around the first time, there was like 15 doctors outside of her door, like the next day. And they're, yeah. So I'm like, oh, gosh. I said, what are you all doing here? I said, well, this is a unique case. You know, your daughter was pretty far gone and she's making remarkable recovery. And so I'm asking these questions. And she's like, oh, are you in the medical field? I said, no. I said, I helped my mom study for nursing and I have an interest in it, but I saw these warning signs, but I was too dumb to to do a blood check, you know, or blood sugar check. I could have done this earlier. And then the lead doctor says, look, we have a dietitian here. And her daughter, the same thing happened to her. She was a dietitian and she ended up getting almost to the point to where your daughter is. It happens. It's just, you know, anyway, so that helped help me.
- [27:34]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Kind of reassuring.
- [27:35]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah, kind of helped me deal with that. But anyway, so, you know, I started looking at the podcast and I went to the first episode and I quickly found the pro tip series. And you know, I just started going through the pro tip series and you know the words like dexcom and you know, pump and basil and bolus. And I started writing things down because I couldn't remember the difference between basil and bolus. And, you know, me hearing your podcast helped initially talk to the nurses, hey, how do I get a Dexcom? Because I remember I watched Alyssa episode and says, you've got to get a Dexcom and a pump as soon as possible. And they said, well, or we're working with work with you on a Dexcom, but your endo wants you to wait at least two months, three months to do a pump. And I'm like, three months. You know, I don't want to be on Lantus or this long lasting insulin. I said, we're getting ready to go home. And my daughter's extremely active. I've already learned enough to know that it's going to be difficult to control her with lantis and honeymooning and being very active and. Right.
- [28:32]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Yeah. And she's got all these different things that she does in high school, too. Yeah. Right. So you're thinking about all that, too. There's dance and there's this and there's, you know, volleyball and everything else. So you're on it right away. You figure out, like, it's enough information that you can cobble together what good questions to ask next. Is that good? Okay. All right, good. I'm sorry. So. Yeah. About the Dexcom.
- [28:53]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah. So, you know, I call, I remember, I call the hospital. They tell me how to call the hospital, you know, after hours or before hours. And I said, look, I want to get a Dexcom. I was up late last night. You know, she's not sleeping as well because he had a low last night. Actually, we, we didn't get low early on, but they still had her kind of elevated early because they didn't know how, you know, how much she was going to be honeymooning and all that stuff.
- [29:17]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Low to you at that time?
- [29:18]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah, low to me was, you know, it's 90 and, you know, how low is this going to go? You know, I, I'm not. How often. It's like 12 o' clock at night. How should I check her again at 1? Should I check her again at 2? You know, is she. Does she have hypoglycemic unawareness or all, you know, all these things are going through my head. So anyway, so I, I called the nurse and I said, okay, we're going to try to get you a Dexcom. So they called my. Or they called it in. Well, my insurance denies it and I call my insurance. Well, she's not been a type one long enough. We need to make sure she really is a type one. I'm like, okay, I know enough to know that this is a done deal, you know? You know, she's. This is not going to get better. Well, like, two weeks goes by and I talk to a different nurse and she's like, okay, we're going to tell the insurance company that she has hypoglycemic unawareness. Am I saying that right? Yeah, they do that process and then I finally get approved to get a Dexcom. I have to go through a prior approval and that was a nightmare, trying to get things faxed. And then I finally get the Dexcom in The meantime, I'm still listening to these podcasts. And then once I got the Dexcom and I saw the numbers, like in real time in the graphs, I'm like, I felt a lot better. But at the same time, the honeymooning thing scared me. And I mean, there wasn't one particular episode that I remember, but I was just listening to it as much as I possibly could. Sure. And you and Jenny and, you know, taking notes and, you know, like I said, without that. I see. So she was diagnosed August 8th. That was a 15. I remember back in maybe March, she was down to 5.9 A1C by March. Doing a lot of temp basils with the Omnipod 4 or Omnipod Dash Temp Basils. We really understood that. And the good part of it was it was a way for me to be able to communicate with my daughter throughout the day in high school, because she could keep her phone and I'd say, hey, you're going up a little bit. That's out of temp basil. And she was fine to do it, and she did it and she could see how it started to go down and it got us a lot closer because my wife at the time was very busy at work and she knew that. She trusted me to, to learn it, you know, and so she kind of let me do that part of it. She still, still, still was there and still helped, but I was the one that was learning about it.
- [31:32]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Yeah. And your daughter seems like she picked up the mantle pretty easily. Like, is that personality wise, not surprising to you?
- [31:40]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
It really didn't surprise me. I figured she'd learn pretty quick. She's smart and she's very devoted and I knew she would take it seriously. She didn't mind telling people. I'm not saying that's a bad thing if people don't mind telling people. I totally understand either way. But it just made it to where, you know, more people were aware at the high school and more people were watching. We had trouble with the exercise and Atlantis, so I didn't attend practices, but I made sure I was at all the games. Coaches understood that even though there was a no eating policy, she was exempt from that until we got on the pump and then we could set a temp basil. I mean, that was a huge game changer because we had to kind of estimate on Lantus based on ball games. And of course, we were adjusting it in the beginning a lot. I was calling the hospital a lot, which they were extremely helpful and they still are. I had trouble getting a Pre authorization for a Dexcom, like two years ago. So we're two years into this and I had a manager at the hospital that like literally went downstairs in the dungeon and found an old fashioned fax machine to fax to my pharmacy company at the time, my pharmacy provider and like spent the whole day trying to get this pre authorization so that we could get our dexcoms filled on time. But so we had, we had a lot of help here.
- [32:56]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
People helping. Yeah. Two questions. How long did it take to get the Dexcom? And then how long did it take to get the pump?
- [33:02]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
You know, I should have researched that. Exactly. But I'm going to guesstimate it was probably, it really wasn't too bad on the Dexcom. I mean it seemed like forever. But I'm thinking, and I looked in her logbook, I'm thinking around four weeks to get the Dexcom, but I tried to get the Dexcom right away and I remember the insurance saying, oh well, she's not been a type one long enough. You're not going to be able to get that. And even some of the hospital people said, no, it's too early. And of course I'm blessed with really good insurance. And I think it was around three weeks where the hypoglycemic unawareness went in and then the pre approval, pre authorization took like a week. And then. So I think it was around five, six weeks. Yeah. And we went to see the Endo after a month. Maybe it was every two weeks and then a month. And I said, hey, I'm ready for a pump. And he's like, no. He said, you need to keep doing manual injections in case you're not able to get pumps. I'm like, look, we're experts at manual injections. She's extremely active. Lantus is driving us nuts. I think it was around two months and we got the, and we went right to the omnipod, which I'm so glad we did because I've got some friends and you know, they're used to the pump. I mean they're used to like tubes tubing. You know, she's never had that. She's always been able to leave it on all the time and, and you know, doesn't get in the way of sports.
- [34:18]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Yeah, it works for her.
- [34:20]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Glad we had your recommendation on that.
- [34:22]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
So it's awesome. Well, it occurs to me that because of the way you think and the way you process and I'd like to understand, please understand, it doesn't have to be just from the podcast I'd like to understand what information moved you along, like, as you were learning. Like, what is it you figured out? How did you figure it out? How did you put it into practice and then how did you QC it when it was once you'd done something.
- [34:50]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah, probably the bump and nudge episode comes to mind because, you know, it's always the doctors say, well, you've got to do 15 carbs. And, you know, you do their 15 carbs. You wait, and then once you go up, then, you know, take some protein or whatever to help stabilize it. And I can remember texting my daughter and saying, let's try Skittles. You know, one Skittle has what, two grams or something?
- [35:13]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Okay.
- [35:14]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
You know, she'd start to go low, and I'd say, just take two Skittles and let's see what happens. And at this point, honeymooning is over at this. I mean, we're like three months in, probably, and we started just doing small amounts of sugar rather than the 15 or, you know, the entire bottle of juice or whatever. The bump and nudge episode where you went into that, that was a game changer because the doctors are like, well, just shoot for a 7A 1C and if she's a little bit high before she goes to bed, well, that's fine. But then I learned from you that maybe 180 is not the greatest thing. And maybe 15 carbs, we could do less than 15 carbs and see what that does. And with the Dexcom, I mean, you can. You can see it. That made a huge difference. Just hearing you talk about, you know, really estimating the food and glycemic load of food, whatever episode that was. I mean, that was huge because my daughter was a huge pasta fan, and we didn't even try Chinese food for quite a while. Of course, now she eats whatever she wants. Not really, but, I mean, she'll eat Chinese food or pasta or whatever, but. And then, of course, your episode where you talk about. I remember the first time she had pasta, but I was already ready for the rise afterwards. You know, I was ready for this to affect her blood sugar for over three hours. And I can remember we Bolst and she ate pasta. And then it was like an hour and a half later and she started to go up again. I'm like, okay, well, this is what they were talking about, you know, with the rise, extra rise, and, you know, knowing that that's coming and just hearing. For me, I like to be. I like to know as much as I can and to Be familiar with it. It makes it easier for me to process and handle.
- [36:54]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
So it's encouraging for me because what I'm hearing you say is I learned about the tools I needed, and I learned how to be flexible around bolusing and food. I learned that, you know, I needed to understand how this insulin was affecting the food, how the food was affecting the insulin, so that I could put a little bit in here and a little bit over there and make it. Make it balance out instead of just wild swings and just go for higher or go for lower. I mean, it's the intention of all of it. And it's really great to hear that that's how it struck you even early on.
- [37:26]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah.
- [37:26]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
You know, that that's. That's awesome. I was trying to share this without being too personal, but Arden was explaining. A friend of Arden's wanted to understand diabetes better. And so they were sitting together and spent, like, hours talking about it. And she got her friend to a good place of understanding, but prior to it, the friend had kind of tried to dig into it on their own and said to her, so, like, you know, you can't really eat a lot of different foods, right? Because, you know, this person trying to figure it out on their own, which is lovely. And Arden's retelling this story to us later, and she says, I said to the person, no, my parents just wanted me to be able to eat normally. And it's like one of the first times I thought, oh, wow. Like, I know this is going to sound strange much, but, like, we really, really, genuinely do not talk about diabetes a lot here. Arden doesn't like talking about diabetes. Like, I don't. It doesn't make her upset, but, like, it's just not a thing she does. And it's been a focus of mine to know what we're doing, do it, make sure everybody's on the same page. But, yeah, we don't want to be running around constantly yelling about type one and talking about it all the time. So it's not much of a topic around the house. And to hear her say, not acknowledge, because I know she knows, but it was just nice to know that she was out in the world somewhere. And the message she gave to another person was, no, my parents have been trying for a long time to make sure that I'm okay and can live a life that I want to live. And it was. It was really great. It was like such a. Like a split second. And I think my wife felt it, too, when she said it, but I Don't think Arden knew she was saying something that made me feel so accomplished and warm, you know? So.
- [39:11]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah.
- [39:11]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Anyway, yeah, your daughter's gonna, like, get that, too, because, I mean, the first thing you said about her, I'm gonna ask you how, you know, how's she doing managing on her own? But, like, when you signed up to do this, you were like, look, she might be starting college by the time I record this. And you said there, like, I'm nervous about this part of the journey. And then to be able to get on right away and say, look, she rode her pump too long. Her blood sugar got high, and before I could even get a hold of her, she contacted Orendo to see what to do about it. I mean, that must have made you feel awesome.
- [39:42]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Oh, I did, yeah.
- [39:44]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Yeah, it made me feel awesome. Like, I was like, that kid didn't just sit there going, like, I don't know what to do.
- [39:48]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah.
- [39:49]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
And she also didn't, like, she didn't have that feeling of like, I gotta go get my mom or my dad to help me. Like, I can. Like, I could figure this out on my own. That's really pretty. Pretty great. You know, it's a really motivated decision by her.
- [40:02]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah, I was. I was very pleased. And she did all that. And I'm like, well, do you want me to. I mean, she's only like, she's less than two hours away. So I said, do you want me to come over there? And she said, no, I'm fine. I've got all this stuff to do. Gonna be just fine. And I'm okay. And I said, okay, well, good. I said. And I told her, I said how proud I have what I was of her that, you know, what you just said. I called. I went to call and said, oh, no, I'm already on the phone. I'm like. I texted my fiance, and I'm like, hey, look, listen to what just happened. And, you know, because I was extremely excited about it, because of your podcast, we have had these conversations for a while, and I. You know, maybe a couple of years, I said, you know, you've got to tell your roommate about this. You know, I'll have to have any. And even early on, when the first. I remember the first time she spent the night with somebody, I said, I got to have phone numbers of some of your friends, you know, because at that time, she was having a hard time waking up. She would sleep through her alarms. And I'm like, I've got to be able to get ahold of your Friends, if there's more than one, or the parents. So I even. I would text the parents, hey, you know, this is Caitlin's dad. I might have to call you tonight if, if something happens. I never did. But, you know, because of your podcast, I remember episodes where, you know, you. You had conversations with her friends or Arden had conversations with her with her friends. And I just think that's very important because I'm sure there's parents out there that send their kids over there, and then they know that they're low and they're like, oh, my gosh, what do I do? They didn't think about that.
- [41:26]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Yeah, the pre planning is important.
- [41:29]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah. Yeah.
- [41:30]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Also, everyone listening. You should be listening to the podcast the way Mitch does. You're just Mitch, you're making my day. You're not regurgitating the entire episode, right? You can't even tell me exactly what the. This makes me feel really good. The Pro Tip series, like, you didn't. It didn't actually even pop in your head. You're like, oh, what's that thing called? Yeah, maybe it was this episode. And you don't know the titles of them, but you have the information. Like, that's to me, is perfect. That's how I think about it. When you need to know something, you're going to have heard it before, and it's going to populate your brain. While you're searching for data, while you're thinking, what do I do? Right now, there's a little unseen hand in the back of your brain handing something up, going like this. Think about this. And that's just fantastic. I love that the podcast is working for you the way I intended it to. And you and I don't think we probably don't have similar minds, you know, like, if you're in the engineering mindset, like, I don't have that. And that my, like, sing songy talky thing stuck to you makes me feel really good.
- [42:32]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Oh, yeah.
- [42:33]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
I mean, I've.
- [42:33]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
I've enjoyed every one of your podcasts. I can remember just piggybacking on what you said. You said you can look at a plate and just tell how many units. I can't even understand. I can't even begin to process that because I have to think very, you know, very methodically. Okay. There's this many carbs. I mean, I can look at a plate and guess the carbs pretty good, but I don't. I can't just look at a plate and say, oh, there's so many units. But I mean, When I. I used to pack my daughter's lunches in high school every day. And so I would weigh everything and not everything. I would weigh pasta. I would weigh pasta and rice. That's all I would weigh. Because I wanted her to have. You know, I didn't want her to have to worry about that. But at the same time, I told her, I said, be mindful of how much I'm putting in there. So that. Which I mean. And she's learned over the four years in high school that, you know, she can guess really good. But I've always thought it's interesting how you can just look at a plate. Oh, that's 10 units or eight units or six units or whatever. I can't do that. I. Like you said, we think differently, but in that regard.
- [43:30]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
But I'm kind of thrilled that you brought that up, because I don't know what everyone else does when they wake up in the morning. But, like, I woke up this morning and I found myself contemplating how thinking works. I still don't get how, like, my son is a great example. Like, he's methodical, the way he thinks through things. I've said this on the podcast before, but my son went off to college, got a quantitative econ degree, and after a year of being out in the world, told us I should have learned how to code and bought a $350 online course, and seven months later, got a new job coding.
- [44:10]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Oh, wow.
- [44:12]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Had never done it before in his entire life. Actually was not all that comfortable with computers before that.
- [44:16]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Wow.
- [44:18]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
And I look at that and. Mitch, I don't. I. If you gave me a lifetime to learn how to do that, I would not be able to do it because I don't see pieces and put pieces together and build on them or however thinking works for him or for you. It doesn't work that way for me. I can't even explain to you that the things I understand, I just look at and I understand them. And the things that I don't understand, I could stare at them forever. And I don't know how to do the building block thing. Even to say I don't know how to do it, I think is false. I think my brain just does not work that way. As crazy as it sounds like I'm flummoxed by algebra. You would never be able to teach me algebra. Never. Because I can't just look at it, and it just doesn't occur to me. But then something else will happen. Something's broken or something needs to be done. And it could be a big thing. It could be a nine step process. We just had a little part of our house renovated. My wife's making lists about what we should do. And I stopped and I looked and I said, no, we just have to do this, this, this, this, this, this, and it'll be finished. I think she's looking at me like, where does that come from? I've been online researching this, trying to figure out all the steps we have to take. I'm like, oh, it's just obvious. But it's not obvious to some people. And I'm going to spend my whole life just wishing that some. I don't care what it is. God. A book that we found buried somewhere. I want someone to explain that to me before we go. And I know I'm never going to know, but it's just. It's very cold to see that your thought process and my thought process still meshed together in this. In this specific scenario. I feel warm about it. Like it's good. Yeah, it's. It's terrific.
- [45:57]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Good.
- [45:58]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
And you're talking about it with her because, you know, I've got to. I gotta. I'm a T minus three years here until she's gonna take off and go to college, and I gotta get all this into her head somehow. Does she think more like you or more like me?
- [46:11]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Probably. Probably more like me.
- [46:14]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Okay.
- [46:14]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah.
- [46:15]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
And how did you find. I heard you say fiance. You found a lady who jives better with the. With the engineering mind.
- [46:20]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah. I mean, I don't know if she would say that, but for some reason she's. She's crazy about me. I don't know why, but that's awesome.
- [46:26]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Good for you guys. That's great when you get married.
- [46:29]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Thank you. May of next year.
- [46:30]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Congratulations.
- [46:32]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah. I think you just got engaged a couple weeks ago on vacation.
- [46:35]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Oh, that's lovely. Good for you. I want to pivot a little bit. We have a little time left. In your note, you said that you started Zepbound.
- [46:42]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
I did, yeah.
- [46:43]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Can you tell me about how you got to that?
- [46:45]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
You know, 20 years of failed diets. I've listened to every one of your weight loss diaries. When I started thinking about this, I listened to all your podcasts on GLP1s and I talked to my doctor back in February. I'm like, I'm ready to try this. I'm tired of failing diets. I was 47 years old. My cholesterol was high. I was high risk. I weighed 260 pounds. I'm six foot one. And you have, obviously it's been a game changer for you. I'll get into your episodes later. But my doctor was young, very understanding, said, yeah, let's give it a try. And I have good insurance. And I got approved. And a week later I took my first injection. And people talk about the food noise. The food noise for me was loud. It was loud and it was silenced. I mean, and it's, you know, it's February and this is August And I'm down 36 pounds this morning.
- [47:43]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Wow.
- [47:45]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
And I feel better than I thought I ever would. I never thought I would feel this good.
- [47:49]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
And you're nowhere near it yet. And you don't even know, really. That's the thing I've learned, having done this now for over two years, that every time there's like a little milestone that happens, you're like, this is it. This is the best I've ever felt. This is the best I'm ever gonna feel. Like, this is awesome. And then £20 later you're like, huh, well, this is the best I've ever felt. I'm never gonna feel better than this. And then one day you wake up and you say something to yourself like I've said, which is, I'm now 20 pounds lighter than the number I imagined I should be.
- [48:21]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Oh, wow.
- [48:21]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
And I'm looking at myself thinking, I'm not really there yet. You know, you don't know where there is until you get closer to it.
- [48:28]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
That's good.
- [48:29]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
And you're going to be stunned how you look back a year from now and think, I remember when I was down £36 and I thought, my God, my life is better. And now six, one. And I weigh, I mean, honestly, if you end up, I don't know your build, but if you end up somewhere between 190, 205 pounds or something like that, you're gonna have lost 60 or 70 pounds, you know, and you're gonna look at yourself and think, I do not recognize myself at all. And I didn't know. I had this thought constantly. I was helping my. She wouldn't mind. I was helping my sister in law talk through this yesterday. I was trying to be like motivational to her. So I sent her a photo from Arden's high school graduation and a picture I took of myself the other day. And I was like, here, this is the same person. Like that's where you're gonna be. Just do it. Like if, if you're lucky enough that this medication jives with you, right? She's like, what are your quick tips? And I said, if you. I said, if you can't take magnesium oxide until you do. And I said, and if you can't stop shitting, put your head down and push through it, because your body will get used to it at some point.
- [49:33]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yep.
- [49:34]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Just stay the course. And I'm like, you're gonna wake up a year from now, and you're gonna weigh 50 pounds less.
- [49:41]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah. That's awesome.
- [49:42]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
I spent an hour talking to her about all the stuff that might happen for her and how valuable it'll be if some of them happen and how worth it it is to see if they happen. Like, you know, so just, you know, the weight loss. And she talked about the food noise, too. Just always thinking about food, or, you know, just constantly, like, just being bothered in the back of your mind, like, I should eat something, or I'm gonna. I'm hungry when I'm not. And then I told her, too. I was like, look, until that food noise goes away, you have to want the medication to work. Make no mistake. You could eat through it. You could give yourself a stomachache, and you could feel like crap and still get that food in. I was like, but just take the help it's giving you. You know what I mean? Like, just try your hardest not to fight with it. So £36 in six months is terrific. What level of Zepbound are you on right now?
- [50:34]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
I'm still on the seven. Was it 7.5?
- [50:37]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Yes. And you're losing weight still?
- [50:39]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
I really need to up my dose. The problem is my doctor has changed jobs, so he's not going to be my doctor anymore, and I haven't got a new doctor, and I'm supposed to get my refill tomorrow. And I really wanted to up my dose because this is going to be my third month, and this month's been a little bit of a challenge, but at the same time, I want it to be a challenge because I don't want to be. You know, I don't want to be completely spoiled by the medicine, because I still have to. I mean, it still takes effort.
- [51:03]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Yes. Yeah.
- [51:04]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Still a lot of effort, actually, but just not nearly what it used to be. I mean, it went from failed diet after failed diet after failed diet to a diet that actually works. And then you get some encouragement, and then you just keep going. And, you know, I don't know if you've done this early on, but every now and then, I'll. I'll look down. I'm like, oh, I don't have this big giant belly anymore. Sometimes I forget. Yeah, or I'll see myself. I remember you said something about seeing yourself in the reflection when you were at an airport the other day. Your weight loss diary. And I. And I've done that before. I looked over there. I said, my gosh, I can't get over how much weight I've lost. Or the episode where you talked about, you know, your kind of emotional moment you have when you bought new clothes. And I thought, gosh, I'm not going to have that because I don't really care about clothes. And then when I actually was able to go from a 38 to a 32 waist size and, you know, really a triple X to a single X or a large shirt and I put my clothes on, I thought, well, now I understand what he's talking about. I actually care about what I'm wearing. I care about what kind of jeans I buy, what kind of shirts I buy. I mean, it was bothering me a lot more than what I thought it was.
- [52:11]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
You lie to yourself a lot.
- [52:12]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
I guess that's what it was. Lying to myself for years to make it palatable.
- [52:17]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
I don't care about clothing. I'm not a clothing person because that's.
- [52:21]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
What I always said.
- [52:21]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Yeah. Because I look like crap in them and I can't buy cool looking stuff. And even if I would, I would look dumb in it. Yeah, yeah, that, that vibe. So. Oh, no, no, no. You're having the whole experience. This is awesome, man. Kind of at the same time, I did like, you know, my daughter left for college and I was like, all right, like, I went to the doctor and I was like, listen, I kept these kids alive for a long time. They seem to be on a good path. Like, I think I need to save my own life now, you know, and you're doing, you're doing something similar. You're ahead of me, man, by a number of years. So a lot of awesome time moving up. And. And you know, I hear what you're saying too, about not wanting to rely heavily on the medication. Like you still want it to be about your effort too. And I've had that experience. You'll hear about it eventually. But I've had that experience in the last couple of weeks because there was a week here. I don't know what happened exactly. I really couldn't begin to tell you other than I think that there was a buy one, get one free ice cream sale at my grocery store. And I bought one for my son, one flavor he likes. And I was like, Oh, I like this one. I haven't had this in forever. And I bought one for myself. And as I was walking out of the store, I thought I would make this into an ice cream cone. I like the crunchiness of the waffle of the cone. I'm going to get a cone. And then before I knew it, over the next seven days, I'd had three ice cream cones. And because of the medication, of course, I didn't gain any weight, but I was off track. And I realized that I was like, oh, my God, this is how this used to happen. But I couldn't stop it before. So instead I was just like, oh, okay. I was able to kind of collect my thoughts and say, well, I'm not going to do that anymore. I was like, oh, I'm going to go low carb for a few days to get this sugar out of my system and all this stuff. And the impact from it and the impact of it is I spent the first two days of eating low carb just peeing like crazy because my body was already, like, retaining a bunch of water from, you know, just having a little more sugar in my day. And I was like, wow, what would have happened without the medication back then is I would have woken up seven days later and been five pounds heavier.
- [54:35]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah.
- [54:35]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
And then that stone would have just started tumbling, you know, and instead I put on a pound and a half. I was within my. Like, I have a little swing that I'm okay with, you know, while I'm doing this. Instead, I put on a pound and a half. I was able to, like, focus on it and not be overtaken by the fact that the ice cream sale was probably still on. And I just stopped it. I was like, oh, I'm going to put a stop at this right now. Now it's a week later. You know, it's been a couple of weeks since the. It's been a couple of weeks since the. Buy one, get one free, and I'm back. My weight's back to where it was before I saw the ice cream sale.
- [55:09]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Nice. That's good.
- [55:10]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
And more importantly, the next time the ice cream's on sale, I guarantee you I'm not going to, like, get tricked into buying it. I'm just going to be like, oh, no, I remember what happened last time. I'm going to have enough clarity to remember and to act appropriately, because as I was standing in the kitchen, you know, seven days into it with my ice cream cone in my hand at the end of the day, because I worked hard, dammit, and blah, blah, blah. I thought to myself, this ice cream is not more valuable than how I feel, how I look, how healthy I am. Like, this is not as important as that. And I just didn't even finish it, and I threw it away. And I was like, okay, I'll stop that now. So anyway, that's all because of a GLP1 medication.
- [55:52]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Seriously, it's amazing to me how it makes your brain make sense of that instead of your brain trying to find a way to talk yourself into saying it's okay to eat it. Yeah. You know, yesterday I. I ate with some of my good friends, or day before yesterday, I'm the only one at the table that had a Cobb salad with steak. And that never happened. You know, I would always get fried fish or a big, you know, cheeseburger with a giant bun, or I would get fried chicken wings or whatever. And I actually, I'm sitting there, I'm thinking, huh? I'm the guy at the table that was able to get a Cobb salad with steak and a vinaigrette dressing and absolutely loved it. And I still fight with the urge. Once in a while, I'll. I'll open up the pantry and I'll be like, I. Like, I want to get something to eat. And I'm like, wait a minute. I'm not even hungry. Why. Why am I doing this? It's just. I'm still not quite out of that habit yet, even though I'm not hungry. I just do that once in a while. Not very often, but I'm able to say, oh, no, I don't need that, so.
- [56:48]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Or have less of it.
- [56:50]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah, have less of it. Like you said, you know, you were able to eat 2 or 3 M&Ms. And when I'm listening that episode, I'm like, I can't eat two or three M&M's. I mean, if there's M, M's, peanut M. I'm going to eat all of them until.
- [57:02]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Until I'm eating the bag. And then, yeah, that doesn't happen any longer. Or, you know, I don't know if you've had the experience where you're at dinner with a bunch of people and they comment that you're not eating very much. And I look down and I've never said it out loud, and I never would, but what I think now is, no, you're eating too much. Yeah, I'm eating the right amount because look at my body holding its weight at the proper, you know, composition.
- [57:30]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah.
- [57:30]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Yeah. And that's not a thing. Because in the beginning when they said that, I'd say, oh, I know I can't eat enough because the medicine stopping me. And I thought of it as the medication stopping me from the amount of food that I wanted to eat. And now I see it as the medication allowing me to eat the amount of food that I actually need. Yeah, yeah, you got to be in it for a while until you start seeing all the different little lessons that come from it, and still, you know, you have to deal with. I saw somebody online the other day. She's like, oh, that's. That. That's just that medicine that stops you from eating. And I was like, oh, you don't understand this at all.
- [58:07]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
It's.
- [58:08]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
It's interesting, like, and how dismissive they were about it. And I still go back to what I thought in the very beginning, which is, what do you care? First of all, like, I'm overweight. I'm going to have a heart attack. I'm going to have a stroke. I'm not going to. I'm not going to live as long as. What do you care how that doesn't happen to me? Like, I just need that not to happen. Right. Like what? I don't. What's your stake in this, that you want to be shitty about this when you're talking about it? And, you know, by the way, that person I saw the other day online, like, if their avatars and a clear representation of them, they're not a person who struggles with any of this.
- [58:39]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Yeah.
- [58:40]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
You know, so easy for you to say. And thanks, you know, anyway, Mitch, this is really great. Am I. Are we missing anything that we. We haven't talked about that we should have? Anything you want to add?
- [58:50]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
I don't think so. I just. I mean, my main purpose was just to share with you, you know, my. My daughter's diagnosis. You know, watch your kids. If you have an idea to check their blood sugar, just check it. And of course, you know, most people that listen to this are probably already past that, but. And then just how. How much I relied on your podcast, how helpful it was, not just for my daughter, but even for my weight loss now. So. Oh, that's just a big, big thank you to you and what you've done. And, you know, you. You went through this with your daughter, and you said, oh, I'm going to start a podcast and think about how many. I mean, literally. I mean, I guess millions of people listen to this. You. You do a lot, and very much appreciate it.
- [59:27]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Thank you. It's crazy. We're getting, we, I, I'm getting ready to celebrate our. The podcast 20 millionth download.
- [59:38]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Wow.
- [59:38]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Yeah. Which is, which is really insane. Like, there's, you know, there's podcasts, like, don't get me wrong, there's, you know, podcast, you know, in the top 1%. They probably get. Probably get 15 million downloads a day, you know, or, or whatever. But I'm really proud that something this niche spread this far and wide, because it's unheard of for a podcast about type 1 diabetes to reach 20 million downloads. It would be impressive if a podcast on type 1 diabetes was up for 10 years and had 2 million downloads. Like, that would be impressive. It really would be to say that there's 20 or that on any given day, the podcast is charting in 40 some countries. It's really, really nuts.
- [60:28]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
It's amazing.
- [60:29]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
And for you to come on and share your story with everybody listening is very generous because the podcast obviously doesn't exist very long if it's just me here talking to myself. I appreciate you taking the time and sharing all this. And you really honored me by the way you spoke about how the podcast helped you. I am incredibly, incredibly proud of your daughter. Even though I don't know her, I'm excited for her to get going and learn everything. And I'm going to tell you right now, Mitch, that there are going to be things that happen over the next four years at college that are going to test everything, and you're going to have to keep learning and adjusting and being gracious with your daughter. And there's a lot still coming, man. So it sounds like you're ready for it, though.
- [61:10]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Appreciate that. Hope so. So I guess one, one other quick thing now that you just did. A conclusion.
- [61:14]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
No.
- [61:15]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
The first four months of this, you know, with my daughter in type one was very, very stressful. You know, three to four months. But, you know, after that, it was just everyday life. So those of you out here that, you know, are really stressed out. I see it on your Facebook page. I try to comment when I can. You know, the first few months, you know, depending upon the caretaker's personality as to how long that takes. But, you know, the first few months are really stressful and it seems overwhelming. But, you know, if you listen to the pro tip series and talk with your endo and make the changes, and it does get to where it's just normal. And I like what you said about making sure your daughter, you didn't focus on that. I did that too much early on, but then realized that that was a mistake and stop doing that early on. And, you know, it makes, you know, rather than talking about diabetes every day, you just, it just becomes the new norm. So.
- [62:11]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Yeah. Anyway, I'm really glad for you that, that you were able to see yourself veering and, and bring it back. And if I had anything to do with that being in the front of your mind, I'm really happy to know that. So thank you.
- [62:23]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Oh, yeah, yeah. Definitely did a lot, A lot of episodes where you, you talk about that. So awesome.
- [62:28]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
I appreciate it, man. And I appreciate that you kept listening, too, that you, you know, some people just do the. And they're like, hey, everything's great. And then they go away and don't. I think there's a lot to be gotten out of the conversations as well. So thank you. I appreciate you being a listener.
- [62:41]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Oh, you're welcome. Enjoy it.
- [62:42]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
Absolutely. Okay. Awesome. Mitch, hold on one second for me.
- [62:45]
Mitch (guest, parent caregiver of a type 1 diabetic daughter)
Okay, sure.
- [62:53]
Host (likely Dan or the Juice Box Podcast host)
A huge thanks to my longest sponsor, Omnipod. Check out the Omnipod 5 now with my link omnipod.com juicebox you may be eligible for a free starter kit. A free Omnipod 5 starter kit at my link. Go check it out. Omnipod.com Juicebox terms and conditions apply. Full terms and conditions can be found@ omnipod.com Juicebox Are you tired of getting a rash from your CGM adhesive? Give the Eversense 3665 a try. Eversensecgm.com Juicebox Beautiful silicone that they use. It changes every day. It keeps it fresh. Not only that, you only have to change the sensor once a year. So I mean, that's better. Did you know that Skingrip has donated over $100,000 in scholarships to help people with diabetes? The people at Skingrip, they know what it's like to live with type 1 diabetes. They know what is it like when your devices fall off at the absolute worst time. And they're here to help. Skingrip.com juicebox Save 20% off your first order when you use my link. That's what you get for being a Juice Box Podcast listener. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of the Juice Box Podcast. If you're not already subscribed or following the podcast in your favorite audio app like Spotify or Apple Podcasts, please do that now. Seriously, just to hit follow or subscribe will really help the show. If you go a little further in Apple Podcasts and set it up so that it downloads all new episodes I'll be your best friend. And if you leave a five star review, ooh, I'll probably send you a Christmas card. My Diabetes Pro Tip Series is about cutting through the clutter of diabetes management to give you the straightforward, practical insights that truly make a difference. This series is all about mastering the fundamentals, whether it's the basics of insulin dosing adjustments or everyday management strategies that will empower you to take control. I'm joined by Jenny Smith, who is a diabetes educator with over 35 years of personal experience, and we break down complex concepts into simple, actionable tips. The Diabetes Pro Tip Series runs between episode 1000 and 1025 in your podcast player, or you can listen to it@juiceboxpodcast.com by going up into the menu. I am here to tell you About Juice Cruise 2026. We will be departing from Miami on June 21, 2026 for a seven night trip going to the Caribbean. That's right, we're going to leave Miami and then stop at Coco Cay in the Bahamas. After that it's on to Saint Kitts, Saint Thomas and a beautiful cruise through the Virgin Islands. The first Juice Cruise was awesome. The second one's going to be bigger, better and bolder. This is your opportunity to relax while making lifelong friends who have type 1 diabetes. Expand your community and your knowledge on Juice Cruise 2026. Learn more right now@juicebox podcast.com JuiceCruise at that link you'll also find photographs from the first cruise. The episode you just heard was professionally edited by Wrong Way Recording wrongway recording dot com.