#1667 After Dark: Persistence

Summary

Juicebox Podcast: Type 1 Diabetes

Episode #1667 – After Dark: Persistence
Host: Scott Benner
Guest: Curtis
Date: October 31, 2025

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Overview

In this deeply personal episode, host Scott Benner sits down with Curtis, a newly-diagnosed LADA (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults) patient, military veteran, paramedic, husband, and father of four. Their wide-ranging conversation details Curtis’s journey through misdiagnosis, military trauma, depression and PTSD, persistence in self-advocacy, and achieving diabetes management. The episode’s central theme: perseverance in the face of adversity and taking charge of your diabetes care.

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Key Topics & Discussion Highlights

Curtis’s Diabetes Journey

• Initial Diagnosis and Mislabeling

  • Curtis was first categorized as pre-diabetic, then type 2, despite efforts at weight loss and lifestyle change.
  • "[I lost maybe about 30 pounds, went back in and was told, oh, well, you’re not doing it right.]" – Curtis [02:46]
  • Despite being active at work (UPS/FedEx delivery driver), his weight persisted and blood sugars worsened.

• The Reality Behind the Diagnosis

  • Curtis encountered dismissive medical professionals:
    • "[She looked at me and said, well, all y’all are stupid.]" – Curtis on a nurse practitioner [13:08]
  • Self-advocacy became essential, especially as he documented food, exercise, and Dexcom data to counter disbelief.

• Insistence on Proper Care & Diagnosis

  • After significant health decline and persistent high blood sugars, he requested advanced testing.
  • Antibody results confirmed LADA, not type 2 diabetes.
  • "[I was like, I want all my labs done that I do every three months, but I also want all my antibodies for type one done.]" – Curtis [38:35]

• Transition to Better Management

  • Switched providers and secured a collaborative care team.
  • Requested insulin pump therapy for tailored diabetes management.
  • "[I told them, you know, I was doing the sliding scale, but I went and did the carb counting. I know my carb ratio, I know my insulin resistance. I know it all.]" – Curtis [39:35]
  • Lost 90 pounds, increased energy, and drastically improved A1c and variability.

Trauma, Recovery, and Mental Health

• Military Background and Injuries

  • Curtis survived multiple injuries during combat:
    • "I was blown up, three pieces of shrapnel and shot seven times." [04:05]
    • Hospitalized for over two years, lost memory of life before the injury.
    • "[The only thing of that day that I truly remember is laying down on the ground, facing up, looking at... the most beautiful blue sky I’ve ever seen in my life.]" – Curtis [04:50]

• Memory Loss and PTSD

  • Lost all memories of his life prior to the injury.
    • "[I did not have any memory from anything prior. I didn’t know who my parents were...]" – Curtis [19:54]
  • Memories would occasionally return, sometimes triggered by music:
    • "[Phil Collins 'In the Air Tonight' came on... It sparked a memory of me and my father... and that’s when it clicked.]" – Curtis [21:21]
  • Career as a firefighter-paramedic, both before and after the military, provided some coping skills for trauma.

• Family Strain & Moral Injury

  • Curtis’s role as a scout sniper led to estrangement from some siblings:
    • "[Now no longer have a relationship with one of my sisters and two of my brothers.]" [22:18]

• Mental Health & Suicide Attempt

  • Suffered severe depression and substance abuse after military discharge.
  • Survived a suicide attempt when his gun misfired:
    • "[I put my handgun to my head and... the firing pin hit... the round just never went off.]" [17:05]
  • This near-death experience prompted a commitment to recovery—detoxing, returning to paramedic work, and eventually meeting his now-wife, who supported his healing.

Strategies for Diabetes Persistence

• Proactive Research and Learning

  • Curtis emphasizes the need for personal research and organization:
    • "[Do your research. Honestly, a little bit of research goes a long way.]" [54:48]
    • Created binders with logs, labs, and data to advocate for proper care.

• Utilizing Resources

  • Discovered Scott’s Juicebox Podcast after finding others “boring,” and credits it with aiding his self-management:
    • "[...none of them are helping. They were boring to me. And then I was like, then I, of course, saw your podcast... and that's what helped me with my carb ratio, insulin resistance, and just getting my levels all figured out myself.]" [40:30, 40:50]

• Family Support

  • Wife (an ER nurse, now nurse practitioner) played a pivotal role—offering medical insight, emotional support, and advocating at appointments.

• Empowering Others

  • Curtis is now helping his own father with diabetes management, promoting carb counting and pump therapy.

Achieving Control & Outcomes

• Improvements Noted

  • Reached 210 pounds from a peak of around 300.
  • Last A1c: 5.1 or 5.2, standard deviation 7–12 mg/dl.
    • "[My last blood draw, my A1c was a 5.2 or a 5.1. And the standard deviation that I run with the Dexcom is anywhere from 7 to 12.]" [48:09]
  • On the Tandem Mobi insulin pump, daily insulin usage dramatically reduced to 23 units (basal + bolus):
    • "[Now... my summary... says my average daily use of insulin is 23 units.]" [50:02]

• Pump & Medications Strategy

  • Stays listed as “type 2, insulin dependent” to maintain insurance coverage for Manjaro, which helps with insulin sensitivity and other metabolic effects.
  • "[If they were to switch mine to type one or Lada, I’d lose the Manjaro, and they want me to stay on the Mondoro because the Manjaro is helping my insulin sensitivity...]" [48:54]

Life After Trauma

• Building a New Life

  • Married, blended family with four children, all of whom he considers his own.
  • Daughter is now a nurse, oldest son an engineer, another pursuing police academy, and one in high school.
  • "[I have one son and she has two sons and a daughter. I'll tell you straight up, they're all my kids...]" [52:48]

• Service Dog & Adventure Goals

  • Training his own diabetic alert dog (a 2-pound chihuahua named Pepper).
  • Preparing for the Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge, planning to raise funds for diabetic alert dogs for those in need, especially veterans:
    • "[...I've decided that what I am going to do... is to be one of the top elite finishers... So what I'm gonna try doing is getting... enough money to... pay for two diabetic alert dogs to be given to diabetics in need. And I'm hoping that I can give at least one to a veteran.]" [63:35]

• Commitment to Staying Well—for His Family

  • Depression is still present, but Curtis says he will never attempt suicide again because of his family.
  • "[Now I’ve got all my family... and if I was willing to do that and hurt myself again, how would that help them?]" [54:12]

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• On Trauma & Survival:

  • Curtis: "I was blown up, three pieces of shrapnel and shot seven times." [04:05]
  • "I died a couple times in different operating rooms..." [07:34]

• Misdiagnosis & Advocacy:

  • Curtis: "[You’re carrying a lot of muscle, it sounds like... where does the weight come?]" – Scott [13:32]
  • "If you tell me I’m wrong, I’m going to prove you I’m right." [31:49]

• On Hitting Rock Bottom:

  • Curtis: "I attempted suicide. I was successful in the attempt, but what I used didn’t work." [17:05]
  • "After that... I was like, how stupid I was because I was just going to put a ton of burden on my family." [17:33]

• Resilience & Reason to Live:

  • Curtis: "Everything I do is I do it for my family. I don’t play that game anymore." [54:29]

• On Taking Control:

  • "The biggest thing is... do your research. A little bit of research goes a long way." [54:48]
  • Scott: "You did their job for them, really." [55:21]

• On Helping Others:

  • "[Our daughter, she's now a nurse. Our oldest son, he is an engineer...]" [53:05]
  • "I'm not really trying to push it on him, but saying, hey, a pump could really help." [44:09]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Topic | Timestamps | |---------|------------------------------------------|------------| | Military trauma, injury, memory loss | 03:58–07:34| | Misdiagnosis, medical dismissiveness | 13:08–31:16| | Formal diagnosis of LADA | 38:35–41:20| | Insulin pump journey, research, self-advocacy | 35:13–41:20| | Suicide attempt and aftermath | 17:03–18:32| | Family, blended family discussion | 52:48–53:24| | Taking charge, advice to listeners | 54:48–56:19| | Discussing the Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge | 62:38–66:30| | Closing reflections and thanks | 67:06–67:45|

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Tone and Takeaways

The conversation is candid, empathetic, and hopeful despite heavy topics. Scott offers warmth and validation; Curtis is open about struggles but demonstrates perseverance and resourcefulness. Humor and heart are present throughout, balancing the weight of serious issues.

Actionable Lessons:

• Self-advocacy and persistent research are essential for good diabetes care.
• Don’t accept poor medical advice—seek second opinions and bring evidence.
• Family and personal motivations can pull you through the hardest times.
• Diabetes management can and should be personalized—don't be afraid to fight for what you need.
• Mental health matters—support systems and direct action save lives.

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Memorable & Impactful Moments

• Curtis’s story of survival after severe combat injuries and memory loss [03:58–07:34]
• The firing pin not firing during his suicide attempt, and his reflection on the family he’s built since [17:05, 54:12]
• Becoming an expert in his own diabetes management and using Juicebox Podcast as a key resource [40:30, 50:29]
• Advocacy for others—helping his dad, planning to fund service dogs, and sharing to inspire listeners [44:09, 63:35, 53:37]
• Training his own diabetic alert Chihuahua (and rousing laughter from Scott) [61:39]

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Final Message

Curtis’s journey is a testament to persistence through trauma, misjudgment, and health system failures—with meaningful triumph via self-education, support, and unwavering advocacy. His parting words urge listeners:

"If I can pull through it, you can." [53:49]

Transcript

[A]

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

[B]

Hello, my name is Curtis. I'm a newly diagnosed Lotta went from type 2 to Lada just this past couple weeks.

[A]

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[B]

I'm a newly diagnosed Lada. Went from type 2 to Lada just this past couple weeks.

[A]

Past couple weeks. So how long ago did you get your initial diagnosis?

[B]

The initial diagnosis, type 2, was a year and a half ago and before that I was considered pre diabetic. And you know how they always say with prediabetes, you know, exercise, lose weight and you'll be fine. That didn't happen.

[A]

Did you exercise and lose weight and weren't fine or did none of it happen?

[B]

So I went to kind of extreme. I went and did the whole low carb diet. You know, where I work is, I'm very active. I drive a brown truck that delivers packages. You know, everybody loves us but so I'm constantly working and everything and I lost, I was almost 300 pounds. I lost maybe about 30 pounds, went back in and was told, oh, well, you're not doing it right. You're not doing. You're not. You're not exercising, you're not losing. You know, you lost a little weight, but you're not eating right, and that's why you keep on creeping up. And it kept happening to where we ended up. Having me placed on Metformin and then another medication, and this was my outside doc. Me and her didn't see eye to eye. And, you know, I have her as a doc, but I also have my VA doc, and my spouse. My wife is a nurse practitioner, and I trust her with a lot of the decisions when it comes to should I do something?

[A]

Tell me, va doc, you were in the military?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

No, just tell me, when did you go in and how long were you with you?

[B]

I was in from 1999 all the way till 2008. 2006 was the second time I got injured. The first time I got injured, I was. Our Humvee was hit by an ied and I got knocked out pretty good. Nothing too tremendous. Then it got back and got deployed again. And the last injury, which took me out of being in the military, I was blown up, three pieces of shrapnel and shot seven times.

[A]

Jesus.

[B]

So I've gone through about 52, I believe, operations so far throughout the years. And actually that when that injury happened, I had a traumatic brain injury to actually where I don't remember my past. The only thing of that day that I truly remember is laying down on the ground, facing up, looking at it. The most beautiful blue sky I've ever seen in my life.

[A]

And you think that's after you were. You were hit?

[B]

That was definitely after I was hit, yeah.

[A]

Curtis, tell me, were you in a firefight?

[B]

Yes and no. So the IED was a. I was told everything that happened.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

I don't remember. We had an ied roadside. It blew. We were in a firefight, and that's when I got hit three times in the chest. And I was brought down. And unfortunately, my flag jacket was one of those ones that weren't up to specs, and it went through my Kevlar, missed my heart barely. One went into my lung and one went into my abdomen. So then they. We were. Because of the firefight and everything going on, it was too hostile of an area to fly in and evac me. But I told us, thrown into the Humvee, they backtracked, and apparently I heard my buddy got blown up by an id Pretty Close to us. And I wouldn't let them stop and take me. I made them go get them. And on our way back through the city, we were ambushed. And when we were ambushed, I rolled on top of my buddy, and I got hit four times in the back.

[A]

Geez.

[B]

So then, of course, we, you know, got evac'd out of there. Went through a lot. A lot of hospital. I mean, I was in the hospital for two and a half years. Unfortunately, he succumbed to his injuries.

[A]

So I'm sorry, man. That's something else. And you were in the hospital for over two years after that? Wow.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

How old were you when that happened?

[B]

That was in 2006, and I'm 42. My early 20s.

[A]

Okay. My gosh.

[B]

So.

[A]

Yeah. Well, I'm glad you're okay. I mean, I don't know if you are not, but I'm glad you're alive, I guess, and. And let's find out about the rest of it. So you told me before we started talking that you wonder if what's happening to you now doesn't have something to do with then, but what's the connection that you're. You think you might see there?

[B]

Yes. So while all this was happening in the hospital and everything, you know, I died a couple times in different operating rooms. And the reason I'm thinking. I'm not sure. I don't know about the data, but I had multiple blood infusions because throughout. From when I got injured to getting to a safe area, I was given blood multiple times. And then throughout some of the operations because I was still bleeding out until they were able to stop all the bleeding and everything. I think they said they went through almost 17 units of blood at that.

[A]

Time, just keeping you alive to get you to a place where they could address what happened to you.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

My gosh. Because they couldn't airlift you out.

[B]

Correct. So. Right. We got back behind the wire, and I was taken straight into the surgical area and where they stabilized me from the time I got injured. To stabilize at that location to be airlifted out, I went through 17 units of wood.

[A]

My gosh. So there's like, a more mobile surgical center close to the line, back behind the wire. They get you as stable as they can to get you off to a hospital where they can address things further.

[B]

Correct? Yeah. We were transferred from there over to Germany until we were completely stable and able to go back to the United States. Yeah.

[A]

Did your buddy make it as far as Germany, or did he pass before then?

[B]

He actually made it all the way Back over the US with me. And then during one of his operations, there was complications and he passed.

[A]

Oh, I'm so sorry. You know, before we started to record, you said, I don't know if there's a connection, but I feel like there could be. So what do you think? Between all those surgeries and the damage and the infusions and everything, like, what is it that you're wondering about?

[B]

When I finally got diagnosed correctly. You know, I'm Lauda now and I have. What was it? The IA2 is crazy high. Where the right. Currently right now my beta cells are being destroyed. Just trying to figure out from the trauma to all the blood infusions and all the operations, it's something either might have got it from somebody else's blood to even was the trauma the kind of the onset that kind of kicked whatever in gear.

[A]

I see your brain's just all over the place trying to figure out what might have happened to you. Is there autoimmune in your family? You know, beyond type 1 diabetes, is there thyroid, celiac, other autoimmune issues? I don't know, even psoriasis or what's the one where your skin gets different colors that Michael Jackson had? Why can't I think of it all of a sudden?

[B]

Oh, I know what you're talking about.

[A]

But yeah, yeah, anything like that. Mom, dad, uncles, aunts, anything, you know.

[B]

I knew you were going to ask that, so I contacted my family just to make sure every. I was correct. And we have no autoimmune.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

My father does have type 2 diabetes, but other than that.

[A]

Yeah, tell him to get in line. Everybody's got that. Okay, so you're not seeing any other autoimmune throughout your family line?

[B]

Correct.

[A]

Okay, listen, I'm nobody in this scenario, but like, I don't think you can get type one through an infusion, like just like somebody else's blood kind of a situation. That doesn't sound right to me. The traumatic part doesn't not make sense. But it would be uncommon with the other stories that people have told me if the trauma was 20 years before the diagnosis. Can I ask you a bigger question around that? I guess. Why do you want to know? Why do you care how you got it?

[B]

Curiosity.

[A]

Yeah, just to know.

[B]

Yeah, that's it.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Just the curiosity. And then, you know, right before I actually finally had to start going to see the doctor and getting told, oh, well, you're type two out of the military. I did a lot of different things, including I've been a paramedic forever. And during COVID I was a paramedic on the weekends and during the week I was doing my normal job. And I caught it once, it wasn't that bad, caught it again when it really came about. And I was out of work for about a month, trying to get over it. Had a real hard, hard time. And I'm considered a long coveted patient now because of it. And then I started having to go see doctors again. And that's when I know, was told, hey, you know, your sugar's elevated. You got. You're pre diabetic. You're going to become diabetic if you don't take care of it. And so I really started trying to get as healthy as I possibly could. And then the doctor that I had, she, you know, she was trying to help. She wasn't the nicest about everything and didn't believe anything I said. And then when I went to the VA to do blood work and everything else like I normally do, the blood work came back that I was very elevated with a 1C and I was started on Ozempic to see if that would help along with the pills. And I was on that for about a year. And when I went back to my primary care on the outside, the doctor that I had, she left the practice. So I was given to. I was given a nurse practitioner to look over my care. And when I was telling her everything was going, going on, and I told her, this is my care team. This is how I like to operate, she looked at me and said, well, all y' all are stupid.

[A]

Awesome.

[B]

I was like, okay. She's just so. I was like, well, this is gonna be the first and probably the last time I'm gonna see you.

[A]

Me too. Oh, give me a second because there's a lot to unpack here. So let me go back to you. In the military, you weren't 300 pounds. Would you weigh in the military?

[B]

Because I was also a bodybuilder in the military. I was a. About 230. 240.

[A]

So how tall, can I ask?

[B]

5 8? My wife says I'm 5 10.

[A]

But, you know, so what she. That's what she just tells her friends. You're not tall, you're not short, you're. You're carrying a lot of muscle. It sounds like.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

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[B]

It just came after that, you know, being sedentary in the hospital, I did gain weight, and then it just kept on being an issue. And then, you know, I had the depression real bad after everything, especially losing my buddy so much. So in when was it? I was released out of the military with a medical honorable discharge in 2008. I completely felt lost in everything I did because I didn't have that structure anymore. I led to drinking very heavily, and at one point, at my lowest, I decided I didn't want to deal with this anymore. I attempted suicide.

[A]

You made an attempt?

[B]

I did. I was successful in the attempt, but what I used didn't work. So I, to be honest with you, I put my handgun to my head and I pulled the trigger. The firing pin hit the blasting cap of the round. The round just never went off. When that happened, I realized how stupid I was because I was going to end my life and I was just going to put a ton of burden on my family.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

After that, I decided I'm done with it. I stopped drinking and I stopped taking all my payments and I went through a horrible detox in a hospital for a little bit of time. Once I got detoxed, I came back out. I started becoming. I was a paramedic for a system here again, working as a paramedic. There was a young lady that sparked my interest for some reason. You know, I was always, you don't ever play where you work. But there was a young lady at one of the hospitals that me and her became really good friends.

[A]

Right.

[B]

It was great. She helped me through a lot and she was the first person that I've ever let in to my bubble ever since I left the military, especially with, you know, my scarring and everything, because I have skin grafts and I have scars where I've had operations and everything. And it's not the easiest thing to look at.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

One time she had to do something and I told her to just come stay at my house, my apartment, because she. Something was being done at her house. And I worked nights, she worked days. I was like, you can sleep in the bed, I'll take the couch. And we have opposite shifts. We won't see each other. Well, I think day two or three, she came in because she got off a little earlier, and I was. I took a little bit later shift, and I was coming out of the shower and she was coming into the apartment. I didn't hear her. She didn't hear me. And she walked into the bathroom, and that was the first time that I've ever seen a woman walking in on me at my most vulnerable time. And she saw the scars and the markings and everything, and she didn't look horrified. And that was in 2011. And I am happy to say that that is my wife now. She completes me. I mean, she has helped me tremendously, from the depression to the memory loss and everything else that I've had to deal with ever since my injury. Yeah.

[A]

And Curtis, was the memory loss, does it cover a segment or does it cover everything before the injury? Like, I mean, did you forget the day and the week before, but not your 10th birthday, or. Do you know what I mean? Like, how much did you lose?

[B]

When I was injured and had that, I did not have any memory from anything prior. I didn't know who my parents were. I didn't know I was with somebody at that time. I didn't know who anybody was. All I know was something was going on and I didn't know what. What was going on, and it freaked me out.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

Still today, I have a heart. I have maybe a handful of memories from my past before the incident. Just little spurts. Something happened and it brought up a memory. But. Yeah.

[A]

Did stuff return? Like, did somebody have to tell you, that's your mom and Brie, introduce you to her, or did that come back?

[B]

I didn't know who my parents were, and they told me who they were, and I still was very reluctant to believe it.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

But one day I was sitting at home at my place, and Phil Collins in the Air came on over the radio, and it sparked a memory, and I was like. It surprised me. It was of me and my father. When he used to own part of a towing business. He would always take me in the tow truck and go and do everything. And it sparked a memory of me and him riding in the truck, listening to in the Air tonight. And then I saw his face, and that's when it clicked. That is truly my father.

[A]

That's the first time you're able to believe it really was your dad?

[B]

Yep. And that happened? Oh, probably 2010, 2011.

[A]

Did you share that with him? Did you tell him?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Good. That's awesome.

[B]

Yeah. It was really rough on my parents because, you know, they see me as injured as I was and so confused and scared, and they just wanted to help, but I was so scared that I didn't know who they Were. And I didn't want anybody near me.

[A]

No, I understand that. From little things to big things. What if someone lied to you about something, about your personality, and told them, like, you love this, but you didn't, or. You know what I mean. Like, if you were married, somebody definitely would have said you love doing the laundry and vacuuming.

[B]

Right.

[A]

How do you trust anything? Because you're hoping these people are being clear with you, but you have no way to, like. I mean, I'm assuming there's pictures and, you know, stuff like that, but still, you're saying it's. It's hard to swallow that pill.

[B]

Yeah. So I. I've seen all sorts of pictures of my past and videos and everything. And then once my brothers and my sister found out truly what I did in the military, I now no longer have a relationship with one of my sisters and two of my brothers.

[A]

Because of your job in the military?

[B]

Yes, sir.

[A]

They don't like what you were doing.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

Would you tell. Would you tell me what your job was?

[B]

Let's just put it this way. I was deployed to unalive targets or people.

[A]

Okay. So you were moving through places, hitting targets.

[B]

Yes, in a way.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

I had a very small skill set that not many of us had. Unfortunately, I do have some of the memories of what I've done in the military ever since it's been so long, and the faces haunt me on a daily basis.

[A]

Stop me if I'm asking too much. Were you a sniper?

[B]

I was a scout sniper, yes.

[A]

Yeah. That's the thing we talk about. This is me being academic about it. I obviously have no context for it, but having a big conversation here the other day about, like, what it must be like for these kids that are flying drones now, too, you know, because you're controlling the thing, and the thing is shooting somebody. But with you, you're looking through a scope and you're seeing that person.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

There's no getting around it. Do you ever think maybe it's good you don't remember it?

[B]

Yes, I do.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Because the little bits that I do remember and the constant reminders I do have and the nightmares, the horrible. They suck.

[A]

Curtis, it occurs to me, as you're telling me that, like, if you don't remember anything from your past, but you can picture some of the engagements that you had, but you don't have the rest of who you are, the rest of who you were might have been trained to deal with that better. The new you doesn't have that training or that experience. Do you See what I'm saying? Maybe the old you was good at it, which I know is a horrifying thing for people to hear or think, but maybe that person was better suited to be a sniper than the person who you are now. And now you're stuck with some of that person's memories, but none of their coping skills.

[B]

Well, I see what you're saying. But, you know, one thing that has helped me is, you know, being a firefighter paramedic for as long as I have been, while I was in the service and out of the service and everything that we've seen on the different calls that I've been to, from shooting, stabbings to suicides, homicides, you name it, it is actually made it to where I was able to cope a whole lot better because of what? Everything that I've been through and seeing.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

But there's always going to be some of these images that I'll never get out of my head that I wish I could do.

[A]

You ever wonder if they're real?

[B]

Sometimes, yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Gosh, man.

[B]

But unfortunately, I know it is real. That's the bad part.

[A]

Yeah. Also, I mean, listen, it's a weird road to go down, and I understand that people could be morally outraged by the job, but as your sister and I mean, you're in the military. Military, they give you a job, you do the job. Right. Like, what would have happened if you said, no, thank you? Does that happen? Do you know what I mean?

[B]

Like, if you were to say no in a time of war. Yeah, that could be punishable up to including death.

[A]

That's a tough thing for your sister to hang on you, I think. I don't know. I'm not. I'm not in her situation, but maybe it's, you know, just hard for her to talk to you. Maybe it's just hard for her to make sense of all of it. I don't know. I'm so sorry. There's a lot in there, man. You're young, too. Still, you're. Would you say you're 42?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You've been through a bunch. Let's figure out the diabetes part. Like, so we heard the part about you being diagnosed as a type 2. They gave you metformin, Ozempathy, Ozempic. Help you lose weight.

[B]

Actually, believe it or not, Ozembic. I was on the highest dose and they did nothing for my weight.

[A]

What were you taking? I can't think of what the highest dose is. Is it two point.

[B]

Is it two? Two or three? I can never remember.

[A]

Yeah, that's. That's not enough to lose the weight if it's not working for you, but. Okay, so you were on Ozempic. Did it help your blood sugars? I mean, it might have helped a little bit back then, right?

[B]

It did help the Ozempic, the metformin and the other med I was on the combination of them, I still ran kind of a higher blood sugar, but I was still staying in the pre diabetic range.

[A]

For people who thought you had type 2 or pre diabetes, they were pretty happy with the care. They didn't realize that you were just in a very early stage of. Of lada.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

Right, right.

[B]

And with how my job is very active, that helps. While I'm at work, my sugars stay pretty dag. I'm good, but anytime I'm not at work because I don't have the adrenaline going and I'm not going fast, that's when they kept on. My sugars would go up.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So I lost the one doctor because she moved. And so I got this new one that said I was stupid pretty much. And at that time it was time for my insurance to get a new pre authorization for Ozembic. She was like, yeah, I'll fill it out, but I don't think they're going to give it to you because you're under what you need to be.

[A]

Oh, for the A1C.

[B]

For the A1C.

[A]

She should have tried for Manjaro or wegovy for you for weight before.

[B]

Well, she, she filled it out and then it came back that, you know, they denied it and I was like, well, can you, you know, rebuttal this and get it figured out and see what we need to do? Because this was my A1C. And she was like, no, it's just, you know, that's what they're gon. And she was like, you're pretty much just gonna have to get sick worse than you are now.

[A]

Yeah, I gotta. I got a close friend, this happened to recently where they basically told her to get type 2 diabetes and then they'll give it to her and she's like, yeah, no, I mean, awesome, right? Like what a message from. I know it's insurance and insurance isn't healthcare really, you know what I mean? It's not. Your doctor, your doctor wants you to have it. But can I ask a question? Like, it's gonna kind of bother me until I ask it to you.

[B]

Go for it.

[A]

It's a hustle job, right. I see the guy that works on my street he's running the whole day in and out of that truck. How are you £300, hustling like that?

[B]

I don't know. Because we hustle, and when we hustle and I'm in a state that stays very, very hot. I live down in Texas.

[A]

So you're sweating your ass off on top of everything else.

[B]

Exactly. During the summer, the back of that truck can be anywhere from 120 to 150 degrees easy.

[A]

So for people listening, are you eating a lot of calories and that's how you're maintaining the weight, or do you think it's something more metabolic? Or do you. Do you have any idea?

[B]

We weren't sure because I was on a low carb. Honestly, for my breakfast, I was drinking a protein shake that I made at home. So it was all natural, you know?

[A]

Yeah. You knew what was.

[B]

It wasn't just. Exactly.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So there was that. And then for lunch was chicken and broccoli every single day.

[A]

Jesus. And you're £300 and you're in a sweat box and you're running around like a lunatic.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Geez. At what point do you say to yourself, how is this not impacting my weight?

[B]

When the referral or the pre authorization got denied, at that point, I was at 2:70.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And I was like, well, let's see what's going to happen now? And so I kept on doing the same thing I always did. And because the nurse practitioner. Or was she a nurse practitioner or a pa? Either one. But she didn't believe me. I was like, you know what? How about you get me a Dexcom? I was like, then I can prove that I'm not lying. Because you don't believe. Believe me.

[A]

Just the woman that called you stupid.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Yeah. Tell me again, why did she call you stupid? What did you say that gave her that response?

[B]

Because I told her how, with my VA doctor telling me that even though I'm on the pills and Ozempic at that time, that if I couldn't get everything under control, my sugar was going to keep on elevating to where we were going to have to look at the possible use of insulin.

[A]

So you said that, and she said you're stupid.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

That's common sense, isn't it?

[B]

And the thing that was funny was my wife was at that appointment with me, but she will not open up her mouth unless I, you know, I.

[A]

Want to speak for you. Yeah.

[B]

And she was biting her tongue, going. She was looking at this woman as. You're an absolute idiot. I don't understand sometimes, but she held her tongue. So they agreed to do the DexCom. And three months go by, and I go back to her, and at this time, I am incredibly sick. I gained another. This is the time. Now I'm about £300. I have no energy whatsoever. I feel like absolute. My A1C is now skyrocketed.

[A]

Oh, geez.

[B]

And she was like, huh, well, maybe you do have type two. I was like, well, I've got something because I don't feel right.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, something's up. So she went from believing that you were pre diabetic, but now thinking maybe you definitely have type 2 diabetes.

[B]

Right. And, you know, I brought in the Dexcom reports and I brought in a binder of everything, every single thing I ate and at what time I ate it every single day.

[A]

Yeah. You're on a little bit of. A little bit of a mission to show her, huh?

[B]

Oh, yeah. When you tell me I'm wrong, I'm going to prove you I'm right.

[A]

I mean, I don't know why people can't just hear what you're saying and go, oh, that's because you didn't say anything. That's not reasonable. Like, you know, Right. Could have just said, hey, let's look into that for you. But nevertheless. Okay, so you brought the reports. I'm sorry, then what happened?

[B]

So then she was like, okay, well, let's see if we can get you on Ozembic Insurance. Comes back that prior authorization. They okayed it, but they're not going to cover that drug because that's not on their formulary now.

[A]

Awesome.

[B]

I was like, okay, great. So then I was got. I was put on Manjaro.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And she was like, now that I'm putting you on, Monroe, you have to come see me every. Every three months and whatnot, or I won't continue your prescription.

[A]

Did the Manjaro help you lose weight?

[B]

Well, after I started taking the Manjaro, I started seeing my blood sugars coming down. Yeah, I ended up getting up to 12 and a half milligrams of Manjaro.

[A]

That's the dose I'm on, by the way. 12 and a half.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

With that, my diet, exercise, you know, still constantly doing everything I am now, currently Today, I'm at 210 pounds.

[A]

Hey, man, look at you. That's awesome. Congratulations.

[B]

I appreciate it.

[A]

Yeah, Yeah. I wanted to let you tell the story because I wasn't sure where I was going to go, but I was just chomping at the bit myself. To tell you, like, get off the Ozempic, go for the Manjaro, the zeppelin, you know, because it's also got a gip in it, and that'll definitely help with the weight loss. You've lost 90 pounds. Yeah.

[B]

But during that time, I, you know, I was slowly climbing each level that you had to. And, you know, my blood sugars were still messing around. Just not. Not. Something's not right. And I went back to that doc and I was like, look, something's not right. I still don't feel right. I think something more is going on. And she's like, no, you just need to lose more weight. You need to eat right? And then this will all go away. I was like, it's not going away. That's the problem. Because now my sugars are starting to increase again.

[A]

Right. Also, you're. Now you're £20 under when you were running around Belugia or wherever the hell you are. So, like, I don't know where you are. I'm not asking, but like, I mean, you're out in the. Let me make the assumption. You were out in the desert, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Or the sandbox.

[A]

Right? Right. You're 20 pounds under the weight you were when you were operating there, and you're still seeing the blood sugars. And then she says, lose more weight. Did you say that? That doesn't make any. I can't stand.

[B]

And then I looked at her and I was like, you know, if you're not gonna help. I was like, it's pretty sad that I'm asking you for help, because I'm trying to better myself and get my health back. Back into where it needs to be, and you're hinder of it. I was like, you know what? I'm done.

[A]

Right.

[B]

I was like, I'm gonna go find another doctor because you're just not going anywhere. I then went to another provider that's actually works with my wife at the same clinic, and they overtook my care. And with how everything was, they were like, you know, let's try a little bit of long acting insulin just to see what happens. I was like, okay, because I have. What is that? The dawn phenomenon. Phenomenon where I would be high as can be in the morning. It was crazy, right? And so we titrated and I was. I ended up going up to, I think, 22 units a night.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And it was kind of working. But then summer came and working outside part of my language, it was a crapshoot because it was like, okay, am I going to get too Hot to where? Then during the day, I'm going to be even worse off because I took too much Lantus and. And then it went from having lantus to. Then I had ended up having to have short acting as well. And insurance covered Novolog. Bless my provider. They put me on a sliding scale, and I looked at him, I was like, okay, I'll try this for a week and we'll see how it goes. But after a week, if it doesn't do what it should do, I'm gonna do it my way.

[A]

Okay?

[B]

And they looked at me and was.

[A]

Like, how'd you know that there was a different way? When they tell you sliding scale, how do you know there's other ways to use insulin? From your wife?

[B]

When I was diagnosed, you know, my wife had a good knowledge, but when I want to know something, I research.

[A]

You and dug into it and I.

[B]

Researched the, you know what out of everything. So much so that I saw a lot of type ones are carb counting. And I'm like, okay, yes, I'm a type 2, but I'm on insulin. Type ones are on insulin. So why can't I do the same thing a type one does?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

To see if that works.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, I just. I mean, if you look into it, it makes sense immediately. So that's great. So at what point does someone realize you're not type two? Like, is that re. That more recently?

[B]

It was very recently. So at the beginning of this year, I told the provider, I was like, look, I really think I need to be placed on a pump. Because with me working outside and taking the long acting and taking the short acting, I swear that long acting messes with me throughout the day if it gets too hot. I was like, something needs to change. And she was like, well, I've never worked with a pump. I don't feel comfortable with a pump.

[A]

Oh, okay.

[B]

I was like, okay. I was like, well, then the next step is I need to get somebody in my care team that's comfortable with a pump. I talked with my wife, and I told her, hey, I'm really looking at a pump. I think that'll probably be the best thing for me with how everything is. She was like, okay, how do you want to go about it? I was like, well, several years ago, I went to a dinner with my wife that had a speaker in our area, talk about diabetes and ozemic.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And so I learned a lot from that, that little meeting. Well, for Endo, she is huge on research when it comes to diabetes and everything. And she is very well known. And so I was like, well, then that's who I want my endo to be. And that's also the endo that my wife refers to.

[A]

Okay?

[B]

And I was like, well, I want the best. I don't want something mediocre. We had a consult put in because of how my schedule was and everything else. Told it was going to be about a four or five month wait. Ended up being closer to six months. I went and saw her middle of August to prepare. I, you know, I asked my provider. I was like, hey, what I want done is let's do labs. So when I walk in there, I have everything to give her, and there's no question about anything. I was like, so I want all my labs done that I do every three months, but I also want all my antibodies for type one done.

[A]

Get that out of the way, too.

[B]

So, yeah, just so I walk in a week before my appointment, you know, all my labs come back and I look at my wife, and my wife has been saying, you know, there's something about you that's different. You're not type two and you're not type one. She was like, you're in between. Because you have a lot of the traits of both of them. And that's why we went with the testing. And when we got the results back before I went to the appointment, it showed that I had pretty much lauda. And my wife was like, I knew it. And I was like, well, sounds like you're right. I'm not ever going to say you're wrong, that's for sure. So I did my research, got it all figured out, and then I also put in a list of, hey, this is what. How my progress has been. And because I knew, because I've had a fight with several providers to get anything done correctly that needed to be done.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So I was ready to go in there. I was going to listen to them, but I was ready to react if I need to and say, hey, here's the facts. This is what I want. This is how we're going to do it. I walked in and, you know, they were asking me some questions, and I had everything from them, from how much insulin I was taking at any given time. I told them, you know, I was doing the sliding scale, but I went and did the carb counting. I know my carb ratio, I know my insulin resistance. I know it all. What do you want to know? And they looked at me and said, how do you know all this stuff? And I was like, well, I Researched a lot. And then I got tired of researching, and I was starting to look for podcasts. I said, I listened to five or six podcasts before. I was like, you know what? I'm done. None of them are helping. They were boring to me. And then I was like, then I, of course, saw your podcast. And I was like, huh, I guess I'll listen to his newest one, just see how it is.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And during it, you were talking about the Pro series, episode 1000-1026, or something like that.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I was like, huh, now I'm really interested. So I listened to those, and that's what helped me with my carb ratio, insulin resistance, and just getting my levels all figured out myself.

[A]

I'm glad.

[B]

And when I went into the Indo, I said, here's everything. And they're like, well, what would you like to do today? And I was like, well, honestly, I was coming in for help. And they were like, well, has anybody talked to you about a pump? Because she. She looked at my blood worker, and she was like, oh, you're Lada. And I was like, oh, wow. I'm not even gonna have to fight for this. Yes. You just looked at.

[A]

I was like, curtis is like, I'm so ready for this fight, and nobody gonna fight. But you know why there's no fight? Because you. Because of all what you did.

[B]

Right. They were like, you're a very type A personality. And I'm like, no, I just want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row before I walk in.

[A]

Trying to stay alive. Thanks.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What do you think, Curtis? Is it about you that makes that your reaction? Because I talk to people all the time, and they all have, you know, the same ability you do, and they could. They could make decisions like that and get out ahead and collect information, but some of them do, and some of them don't. You have any idea about why you're a person who does.

[B]

The big thing is, is I'm tired of feeling sick. I just want to feel good again. I wanted to be better. You know, I've got my wife, I've got four kids, and I'm looking at this going, if I don't take care of myself, I'm gonna start being like my father, who's type two. That's not really good control. And you can see it. And I've tried helping him, but he's like, oh, I'll listen to what the docs say, okay? But I was like, I do. I'm not ready to leave this planet. Just yet because of my stupidity. Again, I gotcha. And, you know, instead of using a firearm, it's.

[A]

It would be diabetes.

[B]

Taking care of myself.

[A]

Yeah. So you'd be making the decision. Yeah. It's so funny you're talking about this, Curtis. I made an episode earlier today with Erica. She's in a lot of the mental health stuff. I kind of drug her into an episode where I was like, look, I want to talk about the trolley problem. And I think, and I don't know if you know that it's like a. Like a thought exercise. Right. If there were five people, there's a runaway trolley, five people tied to the track. You have nothing to do with tying them there. And then there's a lever, and if you pull the lever, the trolley would divert onto another track, but there's a person tied up there. Would you pull the lever, divert the track so that the one person was killed instead of the five people? A pretty common thought exercise. It's. People talk about all the time, that bigger picture. You'll have to listen to the episode to hear kind of where my brain went with it, but it made me think about people's inaction and how with health, you can see people make the decision that, I didn't do this to myself. There's a big bad wolf out there somewhere. They tied the people to this track, this health track that I'm on. It's got nothing to do with me. If I don't do anything and something goes wrong, it's not my fault. It's an unseen foe's fault. It's a bad guy somewhere that did something to me. But if I get involved in it now, suddenly the outcomes are on me. It's easier to do nothing and then get to blame a faceless thing later. And you're telling me that that's what your dad's doing?

[B]

Kind of. But he's actually now starting to. He's control over.

[A]

Look at him. Awesome. Are you getting through to him, too?

[B]

I am, and I actually have. I was telling my mom, I was like, hey, you need to get dad to get tested for type one. I was like, just because of how I've been watching his numbers, because they let me start looking at his numbers through his Dexcom.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I'm seeing how 1. A pump will help him tremendously. So I'm not really trying to push it on him, but I'm saying, hey, a pump could really help to tell them, hey, try pre bolusing. Don't. Don't do this sliding scale. Like you're told, let's figure out your carb count, let's figure out insulin resistant and everything else and go from there. Yeah, I was like, once I did that, things turned around for me.

[A]

Wow. Curtis, I gotta tell you, you've been talking for 50 minutes. You said a lot of interesting things. But I just want to point out that what my ego heard was there are five other podcasts out there about diabetes that are boring. That's all I heard. I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. But that's. I appreciate. I appreciate you being kind about mine.

[B]

Oh, it's on. It's me being honest. And actually, once I went to the Endo, I will say that they were on board with everything that I requested. And then they asked me about pumps, and I was like, yeah, it's easy. I want the tandem Moby. And they're like, but that's tubed. I was like, you got to understand, I work outside. It's hot. If it gets too hot, I can take that off, put it in my cooler to cool it down a little bit, and then put it back on.

[A]

You like the idea of it being able to take it off. I would also imagine with the Moby, being able to wear it with one of those. What's that? That on body kind of thing. Or you could clip it. Yeah. So you have options there, too, actually.

[B]

Believe it or not, I have. I wear boxer briefs, and for some reason, they put pockets on them for some time.

[A]

On the boxer briefs?

[B]

Yeah, they're just a little, little, little pocket to put, like, your phone in it or what? I just dropped the Moby in it, and that's where it's.

[A]

Curtis, you have to be careful. You lose a little more weight, those briefs are going to slide right off you.

[B]

I went from, What, a size 42 to a 34.

[A]

Isn't it crazy? I mean, you've lost 90, I've lost about 70. My brother and I were somewhere the other day, and he was getting, like, picking up, like, a sweatshirt as a memory of the day somewhere. And I was in there with him, and you guys might know from listening to him, I'm very cheap. So I was walking around and I'm like, these are expensive. Blah, blah, blah. And he's like, you can afford a sweatshirt. Oh, my God, I want to spend all the money on that. And then I saw a T shirt, and I was like, yeah, I do like that T shirt, though. And it was stylistically not something that I would have bought prior to having lost weight, because There was an image on the front. I would never want somebody to be looking at the image because then you could see the topography of my visage. You know what I mean? Like, when you're wearing a solid color, it's a little harder to see your tits, I guess, is what I'm saying here. I had no trouble buying the image on the shirt. And on top of that, I tried on a couple of different sizes and I left with a medium and I was a 2XL. You know, what a great experience, plus the way I feel and how much better I feel and M and et cetera. Are you feeling like now that you've got your diabetes in check on top of your weight, can you describe the change that's happened for you from £300 not on insulin, to on insulin, 220 or 210?

[B]

Well, I will say having insulin is a little different. It was a big change to get used to, but I mean, losing the weight and with me constantly exercising, I didn't have a lot of excess skin that some, some people do, which is great.

[A]

Right.

[B]

But because I've lost weight, I've got more energy.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I feel like I can do more. Whereas there's some things that I couldn't do because just walking, I get a little winded.

[A]

You must have exhausted yourself at work during the day, so I would imagine you weren't worth anything when you got home.

[B]

Exactly. I was ready to go to bed. And then even right now, if my blood sugar goes anywhere over 135, I am worthless. Like, me and my wife can sit there, everything's fine, and once it hits over 135, I get like automatically sleepy. I'm ready to go to sleep.

[A]

You've gotten your management to the point where it sounds like your, your blood sugars are lower. Your and your variability is very low too.

[B]

So my last blood draw, my A1C was a 5.2 or a 5.1. And the standard deviation that I run with the Dexcom is anywhere from 7 to 12.

[A]

Jesus, that's awesome. Do you think you're still honeymooning? Do you think the lot is still. Like, are you. I don't want to say full blown, but like, are you still.

[B]

Currently not converted all the way. I still have some of my beta cells.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

That's another thing. So I'm Lada, but if you looked at my medical record, it doesn't say that. It says I'm type 2 insulin dependent.

[A]

That's crazy.

[B]

And the reason we had to keep that was we knew that if they were to switch mine to type one.

[A]

Or Lada, you'd lose the Manjaro.

[B]

I would lose the Manjaro, and they want me to stay on the Mondoro because the Manjaro is helping my insulin sensitivity. Oh, I bet. But it's also helping my heart, my kidneys, and everything else.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

So we're going to keep that going as long as we can, because there's studies going on right now about type ones with a glp.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

And everything.

[A]

Keep your head down, Curtis. And there'll be coverage for type ones sooner than that. Oh, yeah.

[B]

And so I'm just waiting for that. And then it'll get changed. The middle of August, I was seen by the Endo, and by the end of August, I had the Moby, and I started the Moby, and I went from taking anywhere from. I had the 22 units of Lanis, and then throughout the day, I was taken anywhere, including the lannis, anywhere from 40 to 80 units a day. Now, I'm. I'm actually looking at my summary on tandem right now, and it says my average daily. Daily use of insulin is 23 units.

[A]

23. That's basil and Bolus together.

[B]

That's Basil and Bolus together.

[A]

If you have insulin resistance, kids, that GLP will help you. Well, I don't care what type you are. That's really awesome, man. Good for you. That's great. Yeah. You're making me feel. It's the end of my week. You're my last recording this week, and I'm sitting here feeling like I. Feeling like something I did help somebody. You know what I mean? Like, so I'm. I'm having a. Making me feel good. I appreciate that you share this with us.

[B]

You definitely have helped. I mean, you know, after. After that endo appointment, I was like, you know what? I'm about to get put on a pump. I'm gonna listen to the pro series again. Started on the Pro series, and I just started listening to every episode after that. And I'm at episode. What was it? Almost 1300.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

It's like 1298. Because with my job, since I don't really have a lot of interaction with a lot of people, I just listen to the podcast every day, all day long, and it's fun to listen to because you hear everybody's different stories, and then someone will say something, and it's like, huh, I didn't think about that. Yeah, well, let's look into that.

[A]

Yeah, that's the value, I think of people. Besides, the entertainment of it is is that if you just let people talk, they'll say something that's really valuable. You said something. I mean, it's half an hour ago now that I still feel like in my chest, like I still feel it. Like, you know, you talked about your attempting suicide and I mean, just like the dumb luck of that, of that firing pin, not, not doing its job. Right. And, and, and what you took from it, like.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Everything that came to you after that, it's really, I just think really valuable because you probably would have had that thought as that bullet was traveling through the chamber and it would have been too late. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like that thought that hit you of like, I shouldn't be doing this. And you got, you know, whatever steps in and gives you an opportunity to make another decision and then you took it. And then everything of your story after that is really just a masterful example of being an adult and taking care of yourself. You really kicking that then?

[B]

Well, I appreciate it. I, I can't take all the credit though.

[A]

Now you got a wife. I'm sure she tells you when you're being dumb. That's probably helpful.

[B]

And well, I, I do tell everybody at the time I married an Irish red headed ER nurse. Okay. Where she could kill me, bring me back to life and kill me again just because I ticked her off. Well, she is now advanced and now she's a nurse practitioner. So now she's got a, a slew of other things she can do to me. So. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. And she make four babies for you?

[B]

Well, we're actually a blended family.

[A]

Okay. Okay.

[B]

I have one son and she has two sons and a daughter. I'll tell you straight up, they're all my kids. Yeah. I don't care what anybody says any. Anytime anybody asked me if how many kids I got, I always tell them four.

[A]

Four. Yeah. Look at you.

[B]

Because I've been with them since they were young.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Our daughter, she's. She's now a nurse. Our oldest son, he is an engineer. Our middle son, he is actually today taking the test to become a, to get into the police academy. So we're hoping he does well there.

[A]

Good luck.

[B]

Our youngest is finishing up high school.

[A]

Wow, man, look at you guys. That's awesome. You're a lovely person too, Curtis. This is my first time really meeting you. I've seen you online a little bit, but not to this level, obviously.

[B]

Yes, sir. Yeah.

[A]

Man, this is really wonderful of you. What made you want to share this with Everybody.

[B]

Everybody's got a story. And, you know, you got my story. Right. My story might impact somebody to say, hey, you know, I've been there, and if I can pull through it, you can.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I could tell you I still have my dark days. I always will.

[A]

I wanted to ask you about depression. Is that something you still fight with every day? Yeah.

[B]

But I can honestly tell you I'll never. I'll never attempt on my life again, because now, one, I realize how stupid I was back then, and that was before I met my wife. Now I've got all my family, including my parents and brother. I've got four kids that look at me, and if I was willing to do that and hurt myself again, how would that help them? And so everything I do is I do it for my family. I don't play that game anymore.

[A]

And there's worse reasons to do things, that's for sure. That's. That's a. That's a pretty good one. I really do appreciate you telling me this. I want to make sure. Is there anything like. I don't want to. I'm not cutting you off, but, like, if. I just feel like you did such a good job of telling your story that if I keep talking, it's just going to. It's going to ruin what you did. But I want to make sure there's nothing that we missed.

[B]

The biggest thing is, you know, if somebody's on the edge of, do I need a pump? Do I not need a pump? Should I be on insulin? Do your research. I mean, honestly, do a little bit of research goes a long way. And with me doing the research and me presenting everything that I needed to at the doctor, you know, I had it all in a binder. Everything from my meds, my history, to everything about my diabetes to my lab work, and they just flipped through it and said, wow, you are really organized. They didn't have a problem.

[A]

Yeah. You did their job for them, really. Right.

[B]

And I will say, my endo did tell me they're like, well, you know, you have a five, two, which is really good. Just realize that these pumps, you might not keep it that low because, you know, their target range is higher than what I've always kept my stuff at. I was like, I understand that, but it'll help keep me feeling better.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I mean, and instead of having to have two different insulins, I have one insulin. And, you know, I run the. The Control IQ algorithm. I let it do its thing, and it keeps me in check really well. And the reason I Went with Tandem instead of the Omnipod one. If I was to pull the Omnipod off to cool it down, well, I just.

[A]

You can't put it back on.

[B]

I don't get it. Exactly. And with the Omnipod, it. They tend to be less aggressive with their algorithm than the control iq.

[A]

Do you know, Curtis, that right now I think Omnipod is in a. They're doing a study right now. I think they're calling it just. It's Omnipod. I don't know if it's 5.2.0 or something like that, but they're doing a study right now to make the algorithm. I'm going to use the word progressive. I don't know how they would characterize it, but one way or the other, that's not important. What's important is you find something that works for you, and that's for everybody listening. Now, beyond that, what's important is finding something that works for you. But then, of course, once you find it, using my link to buy it, twist.com/juicebox omnipod.com juicebox tandem diabetes.com Medtronic diabetes. You would just find the links at the webpage. So we can keep making this podcast and hearing from people like Curtis, who has a fascinating. You. You really have somehow don't remember the first 22 years of your life, only the last 20, and still have four lives worth of stories to tell. Seriously? Oh, yeah. No, man, that's. That's incredible. Like, I mean, you talked about. You're one person. You talked about being injured in battle and nearly dying. Did you get the Purple Heart?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Did they give you a medal for covering your body?

[B]

They requested it. I did. I didn't want it.

[A]

You didn't want it. Okay. No. Well, you deserve.

[B]

He was a brother.

[A]

No, I hear you, man, but, like, you weren't wearing that vest anymore when you got on top of him, right?

[B]

Nope.

[A]

Yeah. Okay, so that in itself is a story. Then there's everything that happened to you with your memory loss and your recovery. That's a story in itself. Fighting through this type 2 diabetes misdiagnosis thing, I mean, I don't know how many times I'm going to talk to somebody about it, but it's horrifying. And most people don't have the great outcome that you had. So I know how difficult that is. The subplot here of this story, with your sister judging you the way she does, and you've lost family, tried to take your own life, you're fighting with Depression. And you're still living a really successful life out in the world. Being a great part of it. Being a dad to four people, a husband to somebody, and finding a way to take care of yourself and then taking. Taking five minutes to come on here and tell everybody else about it. Yeah, seriously, man, if I had a medal, I'd give it to you. I do not. You're welcome. I don't have one. Just in case you're wondering, I could give you this Dexcom fidget spinner that I have here, but I don't know where to send it. I got this at Friends for Life. Guys, if you've been hearing this on the podcast, I apologize. Can you hear it? I hope not.

[B]

What?

[A]

Oh, yeah, you can't hear this.

[B]

I just heard something spin.

[A]

I've been fidget spinning for, like, weeks now while I'm talking to people and event originally, probably right now, Rob's editing this and thinking like, is that what that noise is? I didn't know what that was. Usually it's a cricket gets loose in my room and I can't find it and I'm trying to record and it's in the background, like making a bunch of noise. But that's a different story. If you don't listen to enough of the podcast, that's not going to make any sense to you.

[B]

Just let one of your little guys run around.

[A]

Yeah, you know what? That's not, though. I'm getting right now. One of them is definitely looking at me like, let's do one more. One more roach today. He's giving me the big eyes.

[B]

So the cool thing is just to add on to the story, because with my lows, I can't tell you when I get low until I hit about 30.

[A]

Oh, geez.

[B]

Once I hit 30, I got less than five minutes to do something about it or I'm down.

[A]

Yeah, we don't want you that low. How does that happen? I mean, you're on a seat, you're wearing a cgm, right?

[B]

Sometimes it happens pretty quick, fast. It's just really weird. So because of it, that's one thing that my wife was very worried about, you know, us sleeping, and next thing we know it, she's not hearing the alarms. And I am very hypo to where if you look at service dogs and people have said stuff about it on the Facebook post, they're like $30,000.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, I don't know who's affording that. I actually apparently got. Got somebody one for free in a giveaway. I'd forgotten about it. I interviewed. I interviewed him, and she. She. The kid. Her kid. Her kid. Her son won a trip to Camp Sweeney through the podcast, and she's thanking me for it, and then she's like, also, I'm the one that dog in your giveaway. And I was like, wait, what?

[B]

Awesome.

[A]

Well, listen, first of all, let's be clear. Do you have ba, Semi, or jeevoke at the house? So you have glucagon with you?

[B]

I have gvo because of your podcast.

[A]

Good, good, good. Let. Let them hear that. People know activity. A lot of times, you'll see, like, latent lows overnight when you have activity, but you have activity every day with your job. Yeah.

[B]

So we actually end because I. I used to have a service dog in the past. Unfortunately, she died of cancer.

[A]

Oh, my God. I'm sorry. Was that more for, like, just emotional support?

[B]

Kind of.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

She actually was deployed several times over in the sandbox as well. She was actually a military working dog. She retired and got to come home and live with me. She was converted into a service dog to help me through the PTSD and all.

[A]

That was Shepherd Curtis.

[B]

She was a Belgian. Malmo.

[A]

Oh, wow. Beautiful dog. Okay.

[B]

Oh, she was.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

And I told my wife, you know, if we're gonna do this, we'll train the dog ourselves. One and two. I was like, I don't want a big dog again. I was like, I need something small because I ride a Harley all the time, and so much so that I gave her something impossible to find and leave it to a woman. She found it. So now I have a. I'm not kidding you. She's less than £2. A little Chihuahua.

[A]

Are you telling me that it's you on a Harley with a Chihuahua in a saddlebag?

[B]

Yep. She's been trained for my lows. We still train daily by using saliva from when I was low and everything, but she. She has jumped on that bandwagon, and that little dog can detect a low really quick.

[A]

No kidding. You trained your own service Chihuahua, huh?

[B]

Yeah. So just think about a big, big guy jumping off a Harley with a Chihuahua on his chest.

[A]

Honestly, Curtis, all I can think about is when I sit down three months from now and explain to chat. GPT to make me an image of a. Of a burly guy on a Harley Davidson going through Texas with a Chihuahua in a saddlebag to see what it comes up with.

[B]

Oh, you're gonna have to send it to me, because in 20 or next year or 20, 28, I'm actually going to be doing a 10,000 mile motorcycle challenge.

[A]

Good for you.

[B]

And I've got to raise money for a charity, but I also have to get sponsors for it because it's going to cost about $17,000 to do to.

[A]

Go on the ride.

[B]

Huh. And it's a ride where you can't use gps. It's all secondary highways. It's not really any interstates. The directions that you're given are old. Maps go or not maps go. MapQuest directions, you have a tracker. If you go over 99 miles an hour, you get disqualified. If you get pulled over by a cop, you get disqualified. And whenever you stop to sleep, you have to sleep next to your motorcycle.

[A]

Oh, you can only sleep where you can put the bike. No.

[B]

Last year they went from Daytona, Florida, down to Key West. Key west to Homer, Alaska. A buddy of mine did it and he actually finished first.

[A]

No kidding. That's an accomplishment.

[B]

It was awesome to watch him.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I've decided that what I am going to do because in my local area, there is actually a diabetic alert dog trainer. I'm talking with him. And what I'm gonna try doing is getting enough. Raising enough money to where I can actually pay for two diabetic alert dogs to be given to diabetics in need. And I'm hoping that I can give at least one to a veteran.

[A]

Oh, I hope you can do that, too. That'd be amazing. Really. So, yeah, Curtis, I had the opportunity last year to give a number of slots away to kids to go to camp, actually a diabetes camp in Texas called Camp Sweeney. Right. I. I can't tell you how. How good that ended up feeling. It wasn't even money out of my pocket. I was just doing it, like from the podcast, you know what I mean? Like, I was kind of the front face of it and I felt terrific about it. I really did. So much. So they reached out to me just recently In September of 2025, they reached back out and they said, hey, would you give some more away for next season? I said, absolutely, that'd be great. And I've already reached out to a sponsor and asked them if they could cover the part that the Camp Sweeney can't cover. And I'm hoping to give 4 away again next year just because you'll see how good it'll make you feel if you're able to give someone that dog, is what I'm saying.

[B]

Oh, yeah, definitely.

[A]

It'll be special for you. I wish you a ton of luck. I hope you can Accomplish that. I know it's hard to get people to sponsor things and you like that kind of stuff too because they're going to be looking for. What are they going to get out of it?

[B]

Well, I'm even going to try getting tandem involved. Omnipod, Anybody that I can just to get awareness out.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

The cool thing is, is my goal to do it is to be one of the top elite finishers. So if you finish in 10 to 14 days, you're an elite finisher. 14 to 21 days you're a finisher. And anything over 21 days, you're a slow ass finisher. Well, I want to be the first one across.

[A]

Curtis, tell me, is this a company that tracks the riders or is there a website?

[B]

There is a website. I'm not sure if they want me to let people know, but it's a very, very popular challenge for motorcycles.

[A]

Can you just tell me what the challenge is called? Don't, don't worry about the website.

[B]

Well, I guess, I mean, I don't think they'll kill me for it, but it's called the Hoka Hay Motorcycle Challenge.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And it, it's really cool how, how it's done and it's a big challenge for a person to do because to get done in 10 days, that means I'll be having to do a thousand miles a day.

[A]

Yeah, it's, it's, that's something else. A thousand miles of riding is. Dude, I've driven 700 miles in a day in a car and it'll almost, it almost puts me out, you know what I mean? So being up upright on a bike, how would you, have you thought already about how to manage your type one during that?

[B]

Well, because of the insulin needs and also I get back injections done because of my injuries in the back. Yeah, I, I can't carry it all with me without it going bad. So I've already reached out to them about, you know, my wife meeting me at all the checkpoints to where I can swap out and get the, the equipment and everything that I need to take care of my diabetes for that stretch.

[A]

Yeah. So you're just gonna have, have enough on you that if something emergent happens, you can deal with it. But the kind of big supplies are going to be from checkpoint to checkpoint.

[B]

Right. And that's the only place I can meet her is at a checkpoint, which is fine with me. Pepper, my little Chihuahua, she's actually going to take the ride with me. So she's got a little carrier that'll be right behind me in my seat.

[A]

Yeah. Well, it's awesome. And I'm looking, I'm looking at the challenge online now. It's great. I really hope you something you can get accomplished. All right, well, listen, let me, let me say thank you and goodbye. This was absolutely awesome. Really want to just one more time tell you I'm proud of you. Like, this is quite an accomplishment that you're a person who really did a lot with their life in the face of a lot of challenges. And it's very commendable. So congratulations.

[B]

I appreciate it.

[A]

Absolutely.

[B]

Thank you.

[A]

Absolutely. Hold on one second for me, okay? Usmed sponsored this episode of the Juice Box podcast. Check them [e-mail] juicebox or by calling 888-721-1514, get your free benefits check and get started today with us Med. Today's episode was sponsored by Skingrip Skin and Skin Grip. They understand what life with diabetes is like and they know how infuriating it can be when a device falls off prematurely, and they don't want that to happen to you. Juice Box podcast listeners save 20% off of their first order when you use the link skingrip.com Juicebox links are also available in the show notes of your podcast player and@juicebox podcast.com Summertime is right around the corner and Omnipod 5 is the only tube free automated insulin delivery system in the United States. Because it's tube free, it's also waterproof and it goes wherever you go. Learn more at my link omnipod.com juicebox that's right, Omnipod is sponsoring this episode of the podcast and at my link you can get a free starter kit. Terms and conditions applied. Eligibility may vary. Full terms and conditions can be found@ omnipod.com juicebox hey, thanks for listening all the way to the end. I really appreciate your loyalty and listenership. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of the Juice Box Podcast. Hey kids, listen up. You've made it to the end of the podcast. You must have enjoyed it. You know what else you might enjoy? The private Facebook group for the Juice Box Podcast. I know you're thinking facebook, Scott, please. But no. Beautiful group, wonderful people, a fantastic community. Juice box podcast, type 1 diabetes on Facebook. Of course, if you have type 2, are you touched by diabetes in any way, you're absolutely welcome. It's a private group, so you'll have to answer a couple of questions before you come in. We make sure you're not a bot or an evildoer, then you're on your way. You'll be part of the family. If you're looking to meet other people living with type 1 diabetes, head over to juiceboxpodcast.com juicecruise because next June. That's right, 2026, June 21st. The second juice cruise is happening on the Celebrity beyond cruise ship. It's a seven night trip going to the Caribbean. We're going to be visiting Miami, CocoCay, St. Thomas and Saint Kitts. Yeah, the Virgin Islands. You're gonna love the Virgin Islands. Sail with Scott in the Juice Box community on a week long voyage built for people and families living with type 1 diabetes. Enjoy tropical luxury, practical education and judgment. Free atmosphere. Perfect day at cocoa Bay St. Kitts St. Thomas. Five interactive workshops with me and surprise guests on type one hacks and tech, mental health, mindfulness, nutrition, exercise, personal growth and professional development. Support groups and wellness discussions tailored for life with Type one and celebrities. World class amenities, dining and entertainment. This is open from every age. You know newborn to 99. I don't care how old you are, come out. Check us out. You can view staterooms and [e-mail] JuiceCruise the Last Juice Cruise just happened a couple weeks ago. A hundred of you came. It was awesome. We're looking to make it even bigger this year. I hope you can check it out. The episode you just heard was professionally edited by Wrong Way Recording wrongwayrecording. Com.