#1732 Squooshie Pushie

Summary

Juicebox Podcast: Type 1 Diabetes

Episode #1732 – Squooshie Pushie (Jan 9, 2026)

Host: Scott Benner
Guest: Brenda

---

Episode Overview

This episode features Brenda, a candid and witty 71-year-old who shares her journey through a late-onset Type 1 diabetes diagnosis, navigating an often confusing medical system, and ultimately finding empowerment through self-education and technology. Brenda recounts her experiences with misdiagnosis, inadequate medical care, family health history riddled with autoimmune issues, and her personal strategies for living boldly with insulin and tech like the Omnipod and Dexcom CGM. The episode highlights the resilience required to thrive with diabetes and underscores the importance of patient advocacy, community, and never-ending learning.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Late-Onset Diagnosis & Initial Medical Confusion

• Brenda was diagnosed with diabetes around age 63, after a routine physical with no symptoms. Initially prescribed Metformin, her doctor assumed Type 2 because of her age.
  • Quote: "She looked at me and all of a sudden goes, oh, you’re diabetic? And I'm sitting there stunned." (03:04)
• Spent years being treated for Type 2 with minimal guidance or explanation.

2. Family Tragedies and Autoimmune History

• During her diagnosis, Brenda navigated significant family stresses: severe illnesses and the eventual loss of her brother.
• Family rife with autoimmune diseases: Crohn’s, thyroid disorders (Graves’), and Type 1 diabetes.
• Brenda describes years-long struggles for proper thyroid testing and diagnosis.

3. Healthcare System Challenges

• Multiple doctors, most of whom mismanaged or did not listen to Brenda, leading her to frequently "doctor shop" for proper care.
  • Quote on doctor experience: "She looked at me and goes, 'Oh, you're cured.' And I'm thinking, you are a lunatic lady. There is no cure for this." (14:55)

4. Transition to Insulin and Self-Education

• Eventual “panicked” re-diagnosis as Type 1 (not Type 2) with little to no instruction on insulin use.
  • Quote: "I basically had no training on what to do with the insulin. They just said, do this before you eat and then eat right away." (21:04)
• Realized that diabetes classes were geared for Type 2, not her situation.
• Learned by necessity: self-research, using online resources and communities, including the Juicebox Podcast.

5. Diabetes Technology Adoption

• After years with pens and finger sticks, Brenda discovered CGMs and insulin pumps late in her journey—first through seeing her doctor’s Libre, then ultimately using Dexcom and Omnipod 5.
• Describes the profound lack of patient education even during pump training; most relied on finding "a squishy spot," with little technical detail or guidance.
  • Quote: "'What you want to do is find a squishy spot and put it on. Okay, see you later.' That was it." (38:51)
• Omnipod changed her perspective, especially regarding quality of life, intimacy, and daily convenience.
  • Memorable moment/quote: "[About sex and the pump] 'How do you have sex with this thing on?' ... It's important! Every married person knows, if sex isn't important, you're out of your mind." (27:48)

6. Empowerment Through Community & the Podcast

• Brenda credits the Juicebox Podcast, especially the Pro Tip series, for her growing knowledge and confidence. She reinforces the value of community and peer support, especially for older adults or late diagnosers.
  • "Thank goodness for your podcast, to tell you the truth. I was doing research ... and that's when I finally learned you can control what these things do." (37:09)
• Joined relevant Facebook groups and found new resources for older T1Ds, e.g., t1d2100.com.

7. Living Boldly—Trial, Error, and Confidence

• Brenda has taught herself carb counting, correction factors, and maintenance by trial and error, embracing mistakes as part of the learning curve.
• Discusses being conservative but increasingly confident with advanced features like correction dosing.
  • Quote (on making corrections): "Because of your podcast, I have gotten more comfortable with doing corrections when I think I need them." (48:10)

8. Frustrations with Alarms, Software, and Support

• She candidly discusses annoyances with device software (Android vs. iPhone), unnecessary alarms, and the bureaucracy of support systems.
  • Quote (on software alerts): "If your controller knows you're in the Dexcom warm up period, stop giving me an alert every hour that you haven’t gotten a signal. Isn’t this obvious?" (42:03)

9. Managing Other Life & Family Challenges

• Family dynamics: financial and emotional strains due to a bipolar sibling, inheritance disputes, and lack of open discussion around both health and personal matters.
• The impact of aging: Brenda’s attitude is pragmatic yet bold, not shying from honest confrontation—"If you don't want an honest answer, why are you asking me the question?" (54:16)

10. Encouragement & Hope for Older T1Ds

• Brenda reflects that initially she thought her T1 diagnosis “took 20 years off her life," but stories from the diabetes community have offered hope.
  • "After I found your podcast... every time I hear one of those stories, it gives me encouragement." (76:38)

---

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On receiving a diagnosis out of the blue:
  "If it's not on a piece of paper, it can't be real, right?" (03:09 – Brenda)
• On medical ‘cures’:
  "You are a lunatic lady. There is no cure for this." (14:55 – Brenda)
• On poor pump training:
  "'Find a squishy spot and put it on ... see you later.' That was it." (38:51 – Brenda)
• On importance of sex and pumps:
  "How the hell do you sleep with a cellphone attached to your body with a cord? ... How do you have sex with this thing on?" (27:24 – Brenda)
• On advocacy:
  "Don't call them, Mom!" 'By God, I am going to call them.'" (42:03 – Brenda on advocating fiercely for herself)
• On reaching her stride and future:
  "As long as I can keep walking around, I want to make it to at least 95." (77:13 – Brenda)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Diagnosis & Early Confusion – 02:10–05:00
• Family Autoimmunity & Tragedy – 05:01–10:30
• Doctor Shopping: Not Being Heard – 13:11–16:10
• Poor Education on Insulin/Type 1 – 20:29–22:16
• First Tech: CGMs & Pumps – 31:23–36:44
• Omnipod Training Fiasco – 36:45–39:10
• Sex, Quality of Life, and Devices – 27:24–28:13, 35:59–36:06
• Benefits of Podcast/Community – 46:21–48:10, 75:43–76:14
• Family Dynamics: Bipolar Sibling – 64:44–72:18
• Exercise & Hypoglycemia Worries – 75:11–79:25
• Reflections & Hope – 76:05–77:13

---

Brenda’s Takeaways & Tips

• Don’t settle for inadequate care. "You have to keep trying to figure it out for yourself."
• Value community and peer support—sometimes the best answers come from other patients.
• Insist on clear explanations. Doctors and educators won’t always provide details unless you ask (and ask again).
• It’s okay to be bold, even confrontational when necessary for your health.
• Self-education is crucial, especially as an older adult with T1D.
• Be open to new technology—it can radically increase freedom and quality of life, but may take time to master.
• Never assume you have all the answers. Keep learning and advocating.

---

Conclusion

Brenda's story is a testament to fortitude in the face of late-onset Type 1 diabetes, recurring family challenges, and an often-unhelpful healthcare system. Her humor, candor, and toughness shine through as she shares what it takes to finally live "bold with insulin," thanks in large part to online communities and podcasts like Juicebox. The episode is rich with real-life lessons for anyone, especially those diagnosed later in life, seeking to become a more empowered diabetes self-manager.

---

For resources, community, or more Pro Tips, visit: juiceboxpodcast.com
For older T1D support: t1d2100.com

Transcript

[A]

Welcome back, friends. You are listening to the Juice Box Podcast.

[B]

Hi, my name is Brenda and I had a shocking diagnosis about nine or 10 years ago out of the clear blue sky of being diabetic.

[A]

If you've ever heard a diabetes term and thought, okay, but what does that actually mean? You need the Defining Diabetes series from the Juice Box Podcast. Defining Diabetes takes all of those phrases and terms that you don't understand and makes them clear quick and easy episodes. Find out what bolus means, basal insulin sensitivity, and all of the rest. There has to be over 60 episodes of defining Diabetes. Check it out now in your audio player or go to juiceboxpodcast.com and go up into the menu. If you're looking for community around type 1 diabetes, check out the Juice Box Podcast. Private Facebook group Juice Box Podcast Type one diabetes. But everybody is welcome. Type one, Type two 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 juicebox podcast type 1 diabetes on Facebook. 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. This episode of the Juice Box Podcast is sponsored by the Dexcom G7, the same CGM that my daughter wears. Check it out now at dexcom.com juicebox Today's episode is also sponsored by the Omnipod 5. And at my link omnipod.com juicebox you can get yourself a free. Free. What'd I just say? A free Omnipod 5 starter kit. Free. Get out of here. Go click on that link omnipod.com juicebox check it out. Terms and conditions apply. Eligibility may vary. Full terms and conditions can be found@ omnipod.com juicebox links in the show notes.

[B]

[e-mail] hi, my name is Brenda and I had a shocking diagnosis about nine or 10 years ago out of the clear blue sky of being diabetic.

[A]

How old are you today, Brenda?

[B]

Okay, age is not a big thing in our family, so I have to think about it. 71?

[A]

You're 71 and you were diagnosed with diabetes at what, like 60, 61, 62.

[B]

Well, it was a journey for them to figure out what was going on. So I got my official diagnosis of being type one when I was like, 63.

[A]

Wow. Well, how did it start? What were the first signs? What got you to the doctor? And what did they think was going on?

[B]

As far as I can remember, I had no symptoms, nothing And I just always went for a physical every year. And so I went and did the blood draw and went to the doctor's appointment. And of course, if it's not on a piece of paper, it can't be real. Right. So she's looking at the piece of paper and all of a sudden goes, oh, you're diabetic? And I'm sitting there stunned. I go, what are you talking about? And I guess my glucose test for part of the physical. You know, you gotta fast at that point. I remember it was 172, and I'm just flabbergasted.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And she just looked at me and she goes, I prescribed a prescription. Get it, start taking it. Eat more fish, less rice. Don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out.

[A]

And she was telling you, what type did you have? What was she trying to tell you?

[B]

Well, she didn't say a type. But I'm assuming, since I seem to remember that the prescription was for Metformin, based on everything that I know now, that because of my age, they were just assuming I was type two.

[A]

Okay. And you were given Metformin and sent on your way with, hey, eat more fish. That kind of a thing.

[B]

Yeah. Just basically, don't bother me, take the pill and go away.

[A]

That's such a shame.

[B]

It is so much fun.

[A]

Yeah. Well, how long did you go on like that?

[B]

I think it was for a couple of years. It's hard for me to remember the exact dates because also at that same time, I had a lot of family tragedies going on.

[A]

Okay. Like what?

[B]

My brother had been finally had gotten diagnosed with Crohn's. Severe Crohn's. I mean, he couldn't even leave the house for decades.

[A]

Oh, gosh.

[B]

Luckily, he lived with my parents, and so he had a backup, But, I mean, he lost so much weight. And they told him. Yep. I knew that was gonna happen.

[A]

That's okay.

[B]

Let me. Let me shut this up.

[A]

Brenda told me before we started, my blood sugar is a little higher than I like it to. I think it's because I'm excited, so it could be.

[B]

Yeah, I'm very excited.

[A]

Good, good, good. I'm glad. And your brother's wasting away, and it takes them how long to figure out about his Crohn's?

[B]

Several years. They even told him things like, oh, well, you're allergic to garlic and you're allergic to this. And my folks were taking him back and forth. Well, he couldn't work, and I don't know why they hadn't gotten him into the VA because he had been in the military. They finally did that, and they finally figured out that he had Crohn's. I guess they were doing a colon.

[A]

Colonoscopy.

[B]

I call it something else. I don't know if people want to hear what I call it. But.

[A]

Wait, wait, Brenda, what do you call it?

[B]

It's easier for me to remember that. It's the butt camera test.

[A]

Gotcha. Butt camera. I'm with you.

[B]

Yeah, that works. And so he told him he had Crohn's, and they were trying to treat him through the VA and what I remember was, at some point, because he didn't share a lot of stuff with my folks, that he actually had to be kept overnight at the VA twice while they gave him an intravenous drug to help with this.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Now we're not sure. We think it was Humira, which was like, 10, 12, maybe almost 15 years ago. He's been dead for about 10 years now.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And at the point that I was going through my stuff, he was all of a sudden diagnosed with liver cancer out of the clear blue sky. And the VA had him going to Manhattan to get tests without letting people know. My folks could have taken him to a very good facility 15 minutes from their house. So it was a bit of a.

[A]

Brenda, this is happening around when you're 60, 61 years old.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And how old was your brother at that point?

[B]

He is basically a year younger than me.

[A]

And your parents were still helping him. How old were they when that was going on?

[B]

Oh, geez. I want to say late 70s, early 80s.

[A]

Okay. Okay. All right. And is there. Are there other autoimmune issues in your family? Because I'm hearing type one, I'm hearing Crohn's. Like, what else is going on?

[B]

Oh, yeah. Just about everybody's got in my. Well, not my kids, as far as I know, but my dad, my mom, my brother, myself, my sister. Thyroid issues. Not sure exactly what type my mom dealt with. I'm assuming it was low thyroid, basically her whole life.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And then what I. What I had tried to go through with my doctors initially was I was pretty sure that I was suffering from the beginnings of Graves disease. My sister had gone through it in her early 30s, and they had told her, oh, you're going through early menopause and all this other bs. And then my mom finally told her, hey, have your doctor check for Graves. Now, why she said that, I don't know. With parents that age, coming from The Midwest. Nobody shared anything. So a lot of this came out of the clear blue sky.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

But at that point in time, my thyroid was playing hide and go seek. They would test it and it would be, oh, you're perfectly normal range. All right. My heart would be racing. I was losing weight, so everybody thought it was because of my thyroid. And then I had my physical and they said, oh, you're diabetic now. I wasn't losing a tremendous amount of weight. And I had been trying to lose a little bit of weight, but I wasn't tired. I just would have. My heart would start racing once in a while. Let me see. Then we were dealing with my brother. They said, okay, he's got six months to live. And the next time I saw him, I looked at him and I was thinking, oh, no, you'll be lucky if you have six weeks to live. Well, basically two weeks later, after being in hospice for a week, he was dead.

[A]

That was the cancer.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I blame the VA at that point in time, they. They just. They screwed up. I mean, somebody did something wrong. You don't have a doctor from the va Call your parents and apologize for his treatment.

[A]

Oh, that happened.

[B]

Oh, yeah. Yep.

[A]

And. And so while all this is going on in your life, it's slowing down. You kind of paying attention to your diabetes. So you're. What are you doing?

[B]

You're trying.

[A]

Yeah, but you're taking the Metformin. Right. And just going along. Today's episode is brought to you by Omnipod. Did you know that the majority of Omnipod 5 users pay less than $30 per month at the pharmacy? That's less than $1 a day for tube free automated insulin delivery. And a third of Omnipod 5 users pay $0 per month. You heard that right. Zero. That's less than your daily coffee. For all of the benefits of tubeless, waterproof, automated insulin delivery. My daughter has been wearing an Omnipod every day since she was 4 years old and she's about to be 21. My family relies on Omnipod and I think you'll love it. And you can try it for free right now by requesting your free starter kit today at my link omnipod.com Juicebox Omnipod has been an advertiser for a decade. But even if they weren't, I would tell you proudly, my daughter wears an Omnipod. Omnipod.com Juicebox terms and conditions apply. Eligibility may vary. Why don't you get yourself that free starter kit? Full terms and conditions can be found@ omnipod.com juicebox you can manage diabetes confidently with the powerfully simple Dexcom G7. Dexcom.com juicebox the Dexcom G7 is the CGM that my daughter is wearing. The G7 is a simple CGM system that delivers real time glucose numbers to your smartphone or smartwatch. The G7 is made for all types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2, but also people experiencing gestational diabetes. The Dexcom G7 can help you spend more time in range, which is proven to lower a 1C. The more time you spend in range, the better and healthier you feel. And with the Dexcom Clarity app, you can track your glucose trends. And the app will also provide you with a projected A1C in as little as two weeks. If you're looking for clarity around your diabetes, you're looking for Dexcom. Dexcom.com Juicebox when you use my link, you're supporting the podcast Dexcom.com Juicebox Head over there now.

[B]

I'm taking that. And after that doctor treated me like that, I thought, okay, okay, there's got to be someone who can help me figure this out better. So I changed over to a doctor that my neighbor suggested and I thought, okay, let me go to this lady. Well, let me tell you, that was a mistake. She was into just controlling things with your diet. And I thought, well, okay, we'll see if this is type two. That's what they say to do. And very much into no meat, a lot of vegan stuff. Which actually, when I changed my diet, I just naturally ate not very far from what she was recommending.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And that went on for about a year or so. And I kept asking her, could you check my. By that time, I knew about T3 and T4 because I was doing research and she kept refusing to do it. And the last time I saw her, she'd done blood work. And at that point, my A1C was 5.5. And she looked at me and she goes, oh, you're cured. And I'm thinking to myself, you are okay. Now as I get older, I curse more.

[A]

So, okay, Brenda, you can curse. Go ahead.

[B]

It was like I'm sitting there thinking to myself, you are a lunatic lady. There is no cure for this.

[A]

And did she. Do you think she really felt like you were cured or do you think she did?

[B]

She was all excited and oh, we don't have to check your T3 and T4, it's not necessary, and blah, blah, blah, blah. Meanwhile, I'm sitting there and I think my heart rate had gotten up to 170. And she goes, oh, I'm more concerned about your heart. What's going on? Why is it doing this? And I thought, why the do you think I came to you? I mean, come on. So that was doctor number two. Oh. And she had me stop taking the metformin. So I wasn't taking it. And so then I thought, okay, time for another doctor. This lady is obviously a quack. Went on to doctor number three. Well, at that point, my brother had passed away, so I was. My folks lived in Jersey.

[A]

Hmm.

[B]

I live in kind of like upstate New York. So I was going back and forth. Didn't have a cgm, didn't have, you know, nothing. I've been trying to remember if I was using insulin at that point. I have a feeling I wasn't. So I was down at my folks house going through my brother's possessions because they wanted me to basically appraise things and give them ideas on how to market, try to regain some of the money they spent on hospice, his funeral, and his cremation and such. So I was down there and I seem to remember that particular trip. Yes. My husband and I think one of our kids had shown up with us to help and some other relatives. And of course, all of a sudden, the clear blue sky, my heart started racing. And I was literally, when I got back, supposed to do blood work and see this new guy for a physical the first time. And I just said, I know it's my thyroid. I know it is. But it wasn't stopping. And I told my husband, I said, I don't want to have to go to the hospital in an ambulance. Mom and dad just cremated my brother. But I said, I think I got to go. So I went to the hospital and I told him, all right, I'm pretty sure it's my thyroid. I'm going to get checked for blood work next week. Well, you go into the er, they do a bunch of blood work, right. Because when you're old, they always want to make sure it's not a heart attack. And so they were checking for that. And they also did my thyroid at that point, my thyroid was off the scale. Yeah, it was definitely high. And then, of course, they always come in and jab you later in the day that they kept me overnight. It's also ragweed season here, so you're fine.

[A]

You don't apologize, clear your throat, or take a drink, as much as you want. Don't worry about it.

[B]

And so basically, 12 hours later, when they did my blood work again, the thyroid and everything was normal, but I finally had it on a piece of paper.

[A]

Yep. Yeah. Now somebody will listen.

[B]

I demanded that before I left that day. I said, I want to print out. I need that to prove what's going on.

[A]

So, yeah, and you went back to the third doctor. You didn't go back to the hippie lady who thought she cured you with sit ups, right, or something? Yeah, right, right. Okay.

[B]

Yeah. So I went to the third doctor, and when I had first seen him, I. I think this was my second visit with him, I had written on there diabetes question mark. And he said, well, what do you mean? And I go, well, there's something going on with my thyroid, because I knew that the thyroid could potentially mess that up. And so when I went back the second time and I had the piece of paper and I could prove there was something wrong with my thyroid, he looked at it and he goes, oh, maybe there's something here. And I thought, no, Sherlock. I didn't even know that endos existed. And so he suggested I went to a local endo. And I thought, okay, fine. So I went in there and he did some blood work. And he was the guy that said eventually he had me as a type 2 also, but he was looking at the thyroid also. And I don't know the name of the test, but I guess there's some kind of a. Like an antibody test that you can do to diagnose Graves.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And so he had done that, and he goes, yes, you have Graves. And I said, okay, fine. I remember we were home one night and I get a panicky call from him. Oh, my God, you're type one. Oh, my God. Run to the pharmacy. Get this, get that, start taking it. And it was like, what the. What is going on? Yeah, yeah, we got that. I basically had no training on what to do with the insulin. They just said, do. Do this before you eat and then eat right away.

[A]

That's it. That's how they told you to take insulin?

[B]

Yep, that was it. And they had also said, well, you have to go to diabetes education. And this was before I got the panicked phone call one night. And so I'm sitting there and I'm going, okay. I was mostly interested in the nutrition part. And when they got to that, it was pathetic. But it was quite obvious that it was a type 2 education, went on for a week. And I thought, okay, he only agreed to treat me if I go to this. I'll go to this BS and sit here and Waste my time. By that point, I had lost about 30 pounds in a month, and I was down to 115. And before I got older and started shrinking a little bit, I was almost 5 foot 8.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And it was like, okay, when is this going to stop? Oh, it'll stop. It'll stop soon. And it's like, are you out of your mind?

[A]

It's not stopping because I'm dying.

[B]

No. Yeah, yeah, yeah, stop.

[A]

Right, right.

[B]

And I was not incredibly thirsty. I had a dry mouth, but I would just rinse it out with some water and I'd be fine. I think I was peeing a little bit more than usual, but nothing that I knew that was a symptom. Not like what I know now.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. Were there, Brenda, Were there other symptoms that you didn't know to look for? Now, in hindsight.

[B]

I honestly don't think.

[A]

You don't think so? You were just. It was a slow onset, probably, like a lot of onset.

[B]

Yes. And then, you know, thank goodness for your podcast, to tell you the truth. I was doing some research, having been. I'll tell you, I was an auctioneer for more than 15 years, and you got to know your research. So I'm pretty damn good at research. And I was going forward a few years, and I had been. Then I went to a different endo, because my first endo. I can't remember what question I asked him, but I do remember his answer was, that's because you're not a doctor. And I thought, well, you. I asked you a question. I just wanted an answer. I didn't want you to tell me how wonderful you are. And he had also started to shift where he was only paying attention to the thyroid, and he was shifting me off to a PA to deal with the diabetes. A PA who the first appointment couldn't bother showing up. The second appointment finally showed up 45 minutes late, and then started reading my record while I'm sitting there answering questions. And I said to her a couple of times, are you not allowed to see the notes from my previous visits? Oh, yeah, yeah, I can see them. And I thought, well, why the hell are you asking me these questions?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Obviously unprepared. And she finally looked at me and said, oh, I can see you're the kind of person that wants all your answers and questions in a nice, tidy box. And I looked at her and I said, no, but I expect you to at least have taken the time to read my record. So you're prepared for this meeting, right?

[A]

Yeah. What were you doing for the 45 minutes you were late.

[B]

Yeah, well, she didn't like that, so that was quite obvious to me. Okay, time for another doctor. So found someone else. Who? She was a little blunt, but you know what? At least she knew what she was doing. I didn't care at that point.

[A]

I imagine you didn't.

[B]

And so we drive now about 45 minutes to an hour to see the same office. Oh, with her. And again, still no cgm, no idea of a pump. The. My husband. You know, you go through this, and I think your brain shuts off. You really ought to go to these visits with someone else as an extra pair of ears.

[A]

Yeah, I think that too, sometimes.

[B]

So I always take my husband with me. And at that point, I was on insulin using the quick pens, Humalog, and then Lantus at night and using a sliding scale. And still I was told, okay, prick your finger before you eat. Take this many units based on the number. Make sure you eat basically right away. Have your food in front of you. I never ate so much cold food in my life for those years, let me tell you. And so she was pretty good. Still no cgm. But, yeah, that's right. He said that she had suggested a pump. And I'm thinking in my brain, I didn't say this out loud. And my first thought was, how the hell do you sleep with a cell phone attached to your body with a cord? And then my other thought was, how do you have sex with this thing on? What's going on? So I said no. Plus, having been in it for at least 40 years, I really didn't trust something that I couldn't control. Nobody ever told me that I could interact with a pump and control what it does. So I said no and went to her for. I don't know, I think I was seeing her for about a year or so, and then all of a sudden, she just left in the middle of the night, took off.

[A]

No more duck. Just gone.

[B]

Yeah, just gone. Don't know where she went or why or what happened, but it was like, oh, wonderful.

[A]

Brenda, I want to be clear. When you first were intersected with the idea of having an insulin pump, your thoughts were, I don't know how I'm going to sleep or with that thing, so I'm not interested. Okay, that's right. Okay.

[B]

That's right. These are important things in life.

[A]

Yeah, you're. You're right. They are.

[B]

They really are. Everybody who's married, as long as we've been married, and they go, oh, sex isn't Important? You're out of your mind.

[A]

Oh, you said that yours. You know, it's funny, we started recording, you were like, this could end up being an After Dark episode. And I thought, I wonder how that could be. But here we are.

[B]

Oh, we haven't even. We haven't even gotten into what would really make it after.

[A]

Don't worry, we'll keep going. I'm not stopping you. I just want. I just want to make sure I understand along the way. Like by the time you're using the sliding scale and all that stuff, you understand that you have type one at that point. Or is that not been I was.

[B]

Being treated as type one. So I kept doing research and learned about Lada. And I thought, you know what? This sounds more like what I have than just a straight up type one. Oh, and I forgot to tell you, the only person I ever knew in our family with type one was a cousin. And I. Now I know she was type one, but we were very young and the first time I knew that there was anything wrong with her, it was around Christmas time and we were little kids and she was going to eat some nuts and I remember her mom whipping into the room, slapping it out of the kids hands and saying, don't you eat those. Now this was back in the. Had to be sometime in the first part of the 60s.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And then I do remember seeing a syringe and giving her a shot, but nobody ever explained what was going on. Oh God, she died a horrible death. She really didn't take care of herself and I guess even amputations and she died very young.

[A]

Do you remember how young?

[B]

I want to say before she was 60.

[A]

Oh gosh.

[B]

Yeah. And just really bad. Really bad. Now I know her sister and I think her brother are also type ones, but never knew that.

[A]

Nobody's talking about it.

[B]

Nope, nobody's talking about it. I believe I have at least one other cousin who's a type one, but this is all in the past year or two that I have even found this out.

[A]

You've been digging around looking, huh?

[B]

Well, just happened to see something casually mentioned on Facebook by a cousin who keeps me in the loop because apparently I'm not supposed to know some stuff about one of my siblings. We can get into that. In the meantime, I'm on to doctor number four. And by the time I got to him, I was on the sliding scale and I'd been using the pens and I was kinda. I had never been taught how to carb count, but I knew how to read the Labels. And I thought I had an idea.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And it was almost like I was starting to develop a sixth sense where I would look at a meal and go, well, the sliding scale says that I should take. Okay, I'm going to twitch this.

[A]

Which device is that? That's beeping, by the way.

[B]

That's my phone. I use Dexcom 6 and the Omnipod 5 now.

[A]

Nice. Brenda, can I ask a question? It'll help reset us a little bit. You said something earlier about the podcast and you finding it, but you're also saying that you've had this going on for 10 years now. How long ago did you find the podcast?

[B]

A little more than two years ago.

[A]

Okay, so it's more recent for you, because I just recently bumped into somebody online who expressed to me that they've been listening since the beginning. And that threw me for a loop because that was 2015. And they said, yeah, I wish I.

[B]

Had found it back then.

[A]

Yeah, it's interesting, isn't it? But. But I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I didn't mean to.

[B]

That's okay.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

So then the next doctor, I had been getting into a routine where I was using the citing scale, but I would look at stuff and think, well, the scale says I should take 10 units, but I have a feeling that nine or 11 would be better.

[A]

Right.

[B]

So I was starting to do that kind of stuff. And me and my husband, I said, you know, it sure would be nice if I could do something besides full units. If I could just do like, maybe a half a unit.

[A]

Sure, sure.

[B]

But. But I can't do it with this pen. And so started looking around, and I think at about that time, we first saw an add on TV for the Omnipod.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And I thought, oh, okay, this has been around a while. Why hasn't anybody ever told me? I think at that point, I had finally been told about a cgm, just because I was at a visit with my last doctor. He happened to be wearing one and showed it to me, but it was a Libra. And now I think he had said once that he was diabetic, but I can't remember for sure either way, that was the first time I even knew that CGMs existed. And we're talking maybe less than four years ago.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And so I said, you know, I'd like to try that. So I did. Well, unfortunately, Libra was a total disaster for my body, and I was not taught how to use it. Anyway, so I switched over to the Dexcom 6, which is not perfect, but seems to work better with me than the libra did back then.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And then I saw this Omnipod thing, and so I contacted him. Well, I saw him at the next Visit.

[A]

Yeah, Omnipod 5. You were talking to the doctor about it.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, I was there. At my visit. I said, you know what? I think I'd like to try this. And he looks at me, and I've been dealing with this for years. And he goes, well, yeah, maybe it's about time. And I thought, no, Sherlock. Well, by then, they had also treated my graves, and they finally, he said, well, you'll have to take a pill every day. I said, you have me taking a pill every day anyway. What's the difference? Let's nuke it and get it out of the formula. Just kill it. So I did the nuclear pill thing for the thyroid, and I'm sorry.

[A]

For your thyroid?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And I thought, well, now, that's interesting, because the day or two ago, I was listening to the podcast episode about the lady whose young child was diagnosed with a rare form of thyroid cancer, and the things they told her about that radioactive pill I was never told. And I thought, oh, that's interesting. I'm glad I didn't kill anybody.

[A]

Oh, I remember that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm listening to it and I'm going, oh, my God, why didn't they tell me that stuff?

[A]

Yeah, especially because you're active still, right?

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I guess I should. I should stay away from him for a while.

[A]

Brenda, I thought for sure when that. When that doctor showed, when you were talking about the Omnipod with the doctor, I thought for sure you were going to say, well, yeah, it's about time, but I finally found an insulin pump. I can have sex while I'm wearing. So, you know.

[B]

Well, no, I didn't tell him that because, you know, we're old. We're not supposed to think about that stuff anymore.

[A]

But that was in your head, is that right?

[B]

Oh, yeah. Yeah, it was. I thought, oh, this is the way to go. I got that from him and. Oh, you'll love this. My Omnipod training. I already had the starter kit, and I was waiting to go for training, so we do a special trip to go training. But in the meantime, I'd already turned it on and looked at it and fiddled with it. In fact, it was your podcast episode. This was before you did the newest ones on Omnipod. This was back in the. I don't know five, six hundreds or something like that.

[A]

The first three from the Pro Tip series for Omnipod 5.

[B]

I found you through Reddit, believe it or not. I believe that because I was doing searches for Omnipod and people were talking about it and they said, oh, you ought to go listen to this podcast. And you had three episodes about Omnipod. And I listened to that, and that was when I finally learned that you can control what these things do.

[A]

Yeah, that's something.

[B]

And I thought, okay, because having been in it, the last thing I want is somebody's software to control my physiology, because I know how bad things can go. That's what helped me decide that I wanted to get the Omnipod. Okay, so we go back to the office, and here's my training. Give me your controller. I said, that's okay. I can punch it in. Tell me what to do. Well, she didn't like that, but she did tell me numbers and things didn't explain what I was doing or why with carb ratios, what they were. I'm still not 100% sure what the correction factor plays into as far as which part of the algorithm, automatic versus manual, things like that, Insulin on board. All these things that I know kind of what they mean nowadays. I was not taught. No, what she said was, okay, take the insulin. We're going to fill up the pod. And it beeps. And she goes, where would you like to put it? And I go, well, how about we try on my thigh? And she said, okay, pulled it down. And I said, well, what are you looking for? And she goes, what you want to do is you want to find a squishy spot and put it on, and then you start it. Okay, see you later.

[A]

That was it, huh?

[B]

That was it.

[A]

Squishy. And go, yep. I wonder why everybody sucks at their job. You ever wonder about that?

[B]

Oh, my God. Well, and then I found out about a week or two later, because I was going to call her to get some. Some advice about something about it. She was gone. Just gone.

[A]

Oh, another person just gone.

[B]

Yeah, I must. I must have that effect on him.

[A]

Parton is like, I make a lot of people quit their jobs.

[B]

Must be.

[A]

Also, I have to tell you, all I really find myself hoping is that Omnipod hears this, and then they do a. A line of commercials where it's just people talking about how much better having sex with Omnipod is. That's.

[B]

That's it is. It is. It makes it a little more convenient.

[A]

And, Brenda, I really hope that one day I see you on television going, omnipod helps my. Then you tell your story. That'd be awesome.

[B]

That'd be fine with me. I have no problem speaking in front of people.

[A]

I know you will. You're. You're a. You're a treasure. I'm learning, Brenda, as. As we're talking here. You really are awesome.

[B]

Well, to tell you the truth, I'll give Omnipod credit. I think they're CDEs. They have educational people.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

You know, it was the little things that she could have told me, like, pinch up your skin before you tell that thing to stab. You never told me that. Use an over patch. Never told me that. But I think the first time I called Omnipod, I was on the phone with them for at least an hour getting information.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And it helped tremendously.

[A]

I'm glad.

[B]

Several times.

[A]

Do you think they should change the button on the. On the screen to stab me and then when you wanted to insert.

[B]

Yeah. Might as well be clear.

[A]

Yeah. Oh, my gosh.

[B]

The one thing I wish they would change. Maybe one of these days they'll give Android software as much.

[A]

Love as iPhone.

[B]

As iPhone. Yes, yes, yes.

[A]

I hope all the companies do that, by the way. I wish they would.

[B]

Oh, I wish, too. Yeah, I wish. Dexcom, get your act together. You got the G7 app working. Let's get the G6 app working under the newest Android OS because I would love to update my six year old phone, but I can't do it yet because.

[A]

Because your G6 won't let you. Have you called them? Have they told you it definitely wouldn't work?

[B]

Oh, it says it on their website. It's not supported. Still.

[A]

I don't know if supported and works is the same thing.

[B]

And I think Omnipod put out something on their website. I can't remember exactly what the app was doing. They tried it, but they had to pull it back in June.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Because it kept glitching. I can't remember.

[A]

You guys better get on it. You don't want Brenda calling you. She'll get on the phone and she'll be like, listen, listen, motherfuckers. Get this thing fixed.

[B]

Yeah. I tell you, that's why in high school my kids wouldn't tell me a lot of stuff. No, don't call them. Don't. Don't call them. I go, by God, I am going to call him. I'll tell them what to do. And I would like Omnipod. I understand software folks. If your controller or your app, whatever you're using, understands that you're in the Dexcom warm up period. Stop giving me an alert every hour that you haven't gotten a signal. Isn't this obvious why you're saying you know already? Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. You know, that's going to be the fda, Brenda, not them. Right. The FDA is going to make them do that, I imagine.

[B]

Oh, they have to do that.

[A]

I would think so. Yep. I'm gonna. I'm gonna guess that if you're promising people that your insulin is being, you know, automated like this, and it's not being that you. There's probably an alarm that has to go off. I would think that that's. I mean, I don't know that they would or wouldn't want to do it on their own.

[B]

The alarm goes off if you're not getting any readings for an hour.

[A]

Sure. Yeah. Because. Because for every person like you who's paying close attention, there's probably a hundred people who aren't paying close attention and they get an alarm.

[B]

Yeah, I guess so. But anyway, where were we in my story?

[A]

I don't know. Your story is awesome, though. You are. You're getting an. You're getting an omnipod in your story.

[B]

I got the omnipod and that was my wonderful instructions.

[A]

Squishy home. Squishy and go.

[B]

Yep, yep. We get home with it. And I thought, okay, this is great. I don't have to do needles. And the day's going on and I'm getting higher and higher. I got up to more than 400, had never been that high as far as I know.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I thought, what the fuck is going on? So I called and they go, oh, oh, take this manual shot and replace it. And I thought. I didn't think I had to take shots anymore, but okay. So I put another one in the same general area, found a squishy spot, just slapped it on and started it. Well, the second one did the same thing. And I thought, well, this is a. I'm not going to say what I know.

[A]

What'd you say? What you think I was going to say?

[B]

What the is going on now? And so I took them off. And then it was like, okay, okay, I'll try another one. And then I thought, I'm going to go out to Reddit and see what's going on. And people were talking about different problems. And then I saw a picture of what a bent cannula look like.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And I thought, oh, my God. So I went and looked. I had one of the old pods still, and I looked at it and I Thought these first two pods bent. Jesus, I just can't win. So then I figured that out, and I think I had talked with Omnipod and they were telling me about the PID shop.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

And so I haven't had that happen since. But, yes, it was not much fun starting out with it and took it several months to, quote, unquote, learn me. It was not as easy as people make it sound to use the device and use it well. In fact, I bet you almost a year.

[A]

Yeah, Brendan, tell me what it is that you had to learn that made. That eventually made the Omnipod 5 valuable for you and not frustrating. What did you have to learn about?

[B]

I had to teach myself the carb ratios, what that meant and how it affected things. Well, thank God for your Facebook group, too, because I got onto that and people were talking about mdi. Mdi. And I thought, what is that? And so I finally said, this might sound dumb, folks, but what does MDI mean? And then they told me and I went, oh, my God, I didn't even know that. Isn't that ridiculous?

[A]

You start wondering, then, what else don't you know? Right.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And so through the podcast, especially the stuff that you and Jenny do and the. The pro tips and everything I have learned, or I think I've learned, an understanding of the insulin to carb ratios. I'm not quite sure when the correction factor is used. Basically all the terminology I've had to learn myself.

[A]

Yeah, well, Brenda, let me stop you. The correction factor is how much, how far does one unit of insulin move you? So if, gosh, if your blood sugar is 200, and I'm just going to make up numbers, right. And one unit moves you 50 points and you want to be a hundred, then two units should move you from 200 to 100. That's what the correction factor is for.

[B]

But that's if I override what the machine wants to give me and just do that as an extra bolus. Right.

[A]

You're. Well, it's part of how the algorithm is thinking. I would think that it's more concrete. That idea would be more concrete in manual mode for you or on an insulin pump that does not have an algorithm running, because the algorithm is considering things that I. I'd be perfectly honest with you. I don't know everything that it's considering before it makes a decision.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. My understanding is that it really doesn't come into effect much at all with the automatic mode bolus calculation before a meal, that it really doesn't come into play. So I'm not absolutely sure where it comes into play, but I do know I went to the Omnipod because I could do fractional units.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And because of your podcast, I have gotten more comfortable with doing corrections.

[A]

Awesome.

[B]

When I think I need them, but then I've got to be. It's kind of odd. I use more insulin per carb for breakfast than any other meal.

[A]

That makes sense to me, though. That's pretty common for people.

[B]

And then, like, at dinner, not much at all.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Oh, maybe we ought to get through the list of doctors again. I'm not done.

[A]

Okay, keep going. What happened next?

[B]

I'm currently in the process because my last endo, he finally retired, and it was like, oh, my God, here goes the common sense. I have to train another doctor. And I just got done. I'm going to see the next one in a couple of weeks. And they usually do blood work before you go. Right. I finally got them to understand that they need to do an A1C. And I told my husband, I go, oh, this doesn't look like it's going to go well. Just finally got them to understand that this morning. And it's just, I want him to test my C peptide again also, which I had done about a year ago. And apparently my pancreas is still squirting a little bit of insulin out.

[A]

Oh, it's getting involved still.

[B]

Yeah. Isn't that odd for so long?

[A]

Not really, no. I've heard. I mean, I've heard every variation of that story. So, I mean, it doesn't shock me. Maybe it's not as common as people think, but it doesn't shock me. I'm realizing as you're talking, I hope you never get mad at me.

[B]

Okay. That's what people say. My husband has said. You know, you're the only person I know that you can tell someone to go to hell, and they don't realize it for at least 20 minutes.

[A]

Okay, go ahead. So keep. Keep going. Get me to the.

[B]

And I. I tell them, I go, oh, yeah, this is even better. So we're on to this next doctor. And I finally got them to understand, for the blood work, they're going to do a TSH. They're going to do a T4. I don't know why they're not going to do a T3. I'll just take what I can get right now. And they finally realize this morning, they go, oh, okay, so we'll do an A1C. Don't know if they're going to do the C peptide. So we'll just take the small win and see what happens when I meet this lady for the first time. In the meantime, I'm also working on a new primary because don't ask me a question if you don't like the answer, Mr. Doctor. Okay. For some reason they called us. I was in the middle of getting ready for vacation. I wanted to make sure I didn't forget anything I needed. And the phone rings and I thought, well, that's weird. Did we forget an appointment or something? And the lady said, oh, well, I want to. I want to get my next appointment set up with you for your physic. For your. What is it? Since we're on Medicare, they're pushing this every six months crap. Yeah, whether you need it or not. I think it's just to pay their mortgage, but whatever. And so I told her, she goes, do you have time to talk about this now? And I said, no, I really don't. And I go, what's it about anyway? Well, to do your six months checkup in. When did she want to do it? November. Which is like two months too soon. And I thought, okay, this isn't right. I said, that's when I usually get my physical. Oh, well, they're basically the same. I said, no, they're not. And she goes, yes, they are. And I go, they really aren't. Okay, well, call us when you get back. I go, fine, fine, I will. And I hung up. And I thought, you guys, this is not a good sign either. Because it felt like this doctor had been basically calling it in for the past year or two. And so they called again and I said, listen, I'll call you when I get back from vacation. I'm really busy right now, can I call you back?

[A]

Sure.

[B]

And this time they had it right. They wanted to do the six month thing in January. Okay, no mention of my physical, just that. And he goes, okay, fine, call us when you get back. I said, okay. Well then a couple days later, I get a message through the portal. We were just calling to make better use of Dr. Blah blah blah's time to make sure we take care of you. And then the next sentence was, and we do not appreciate you being disrespectful to our staff.

[A]

That was on your machine. They left that? They left you that message?

[B]

Well, no, in my medical record portal. It was a message.

[A]

Oh, oh, a written message.

[B]

I said to my husband. I go, what the. If they want to see disrespectful, I'll bring my full Jersey out and they'll see disrespectful. They don't know disrespectful. I just. I couldn't believe it. And I thought, okay, that's the last straw. I need. Now I need to train another one of those. So I'm going to see a new primary. I just haven't told them yet to change my records, but I will.

[A]

Brenda, you like some people, right?

[B]

Yeah, if you're. Makes sense. But, you know, I. I really have no time for. Yeah. Or, you know, incompetent. Incompetent people.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And, you know, if you don't want an honest answer, why are you asking me the question?

[A]

I think, too, you know, pretty obviously I think you're right about the other thing. Like, right. There's a certain amount of time in between. Hold on. There's some banging going on in my house. I was. There's a gentleman painting downstairs. And I was like, just, you know, for this hour, please don't bang. He's like, oh, no problem. I think that there's an amount of time that they can schedule more appointments, and you're right. And they can bill Medicare for them. So they want to get you. They want to get you on the books as soon as possible, and so that when that time frame passes again, they can get you back on the books again because there's a certain number of times they can bill for a year, and they want to get them all. So.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yep. Yeah.

[A]

And they're bugging you while you're trying to go on vacation, and then when you say, hey, just cut me a break here. I'm trying to go on vacation, and they say you're being rude to them.

[B]

Yeah, well, they. They sent me that message and I thought.

[A]

Well, I know what you thought. I've been talking to you. I've been talking to you for 56 minutes. Brenda, you thought yourself. I know what you thought.

[B]

Morons. You know, and it's like, I don't think I was rude because when it comes to insurance. Yeah. November wouldn't have been six months. You know, it's like, what is your problem, people?

[A]

Yeah. Well, also, you might have been talking to somebody on the phone who's younger, maybe a little less accustomed to the. The time you grew up in. You know what I mean? And maybe they don't have the. Maybe they don't have the intestinal fortitude to. To deal with somebody pushing back at them.

[B]

Well, I said it very nicely.

[A]

I imagine you did. I do.

[B]

I was like, I've tried to be nicer when talking to people who are morons, because my children go, oh, you can't say that. Well, then don't ask me a question. Okay.

[A]

I can't wait to be 71. That's all this is teaching me, you.

[B]

Know, ever since, you know, my. My brother went through that terrible death.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And then, oh, less than a year later, my mom died.

[A]

No, I'm sorry.

[B]

Yep. And that's where the lunatic gets involved. But anyway, hopefully I'll get these new doctors trained.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And have them do what they should be doing.

[A]

Tell me a little bit about how you're doing right now. Like, so you said you found the podcast a couple years ago. You're learning, you know, new phrases and ideas and concepts, and you're getting more comfortable making corrections and everything. Can you tell me where your A1C is today?

[B]

Oh, right this minute. I don't know. The last time I had one done, I was. I looked up some stuff because I knew you were going to ask a question.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

In april, it was 6.6.

[A]

Good for you.

[B]

Now, nowadays, the Clarity app, if I look at says I'm going to come out to be 6.3 or 6.4.

[A]

That's awesome. Good for you, Brenda. That's really great.

[B]

Well, I work hard at it, I bet. And that was. Oh, the thing that I would like to understand better. You and. And other people on the episode say things like, well, I remember you saying if you could hold it at 180, you could hold it at 120. And so I've tried. I lowered my. My high alarm to 170. And it doesn't go over that too much. It is right now because I'm thinking about all this crap I've had to deal with in my life, and, oh, yeah, that's really getting the adrenaline going, let me tell you. How do you do that without the alarms going off all the time? Because I've tried it. And I'll dose for my meal and I'll eat, and maybe I don't go above my high limit a couple hours later or two or three hours later, all of a sudden, I'm fighting a low.

[A]

What are you eating? Oh, a low.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay, so you're having the op. You're having this situation where you're putting your insulin in, you're pre bolusing your meal, you're eating, you're not getting higher. Then later on you get low. Yeah, that's probably too much insulin.

[B]

Well, but then I would go high.

[A]

If you so if you took away a little bit of insulin, still did the pre bolus, you say, then you'd get higher.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Tell me about where your blood sugar is when you start to. When you pre. Bullish your meal. Like, where. Where is it at?

[B]

I try. I. Well, I like to have it the lower the better, but I try to have it down to at least around 120before I eat anything, so.

[A]

Are you telling me you're 120? You bolus your meal. How long do you wait before you eat?

[B]

At least 15 minutes.

[A]

Okay. Are you fall. Is your blood sugar falling by the time that's happening?

[B]

Generally. Okay, a little bit. It'll start.

[A]

I mean, if I'm hearing your problem and understanding it right, I would probably try taking away a little bit of insulin, but doing a longer pre bolus.

[B]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[A]

And then that way, like. So imagine if you're starting to eat at 120 and you're going to 180. If you started eating at 90, you'd probably only go to 150. Does that make sense?

[B]

Oh, I see.

[A]

Yeah. And then. And then on top of that, if you actually are using too much insulin, which is why eventually you're getting low, because I assume the algorithm's taking away Basil, trying to make up for the bolus, and it can't. Eventually you get lower. If you use less to begin with, hopefully that time. That time will be enough for it to rebound and not make you low later. Does that make sense?

[B]

Okay, I could try that today.

[A]

Yeah, give it a shot. I mean, you know, if you get panicky or you worry, like, just start eating. But, like, you know, I don't get.

[B]

So tired of eating. I just am naturally not a snacker. So that's the other thing I got to get used to doing.

[A]

You're making me feel like the last part of my life's not going to be fun because I'm already irritated by eating, too. I just.

[B]

Yeah, it's like I literally get tired of chewing. And as far as buffets go, it is such a waste of money on me. It always has been my whole life.

[A]

So you have that experience. Where is it? Just. Do you feel like, my God, I've been alive for so long. I've eaten this thing so many times. I'm just sick of it.

[B]

No, just in general. I've never been a gigantic meal eater.

[A]

How about that? Okay, okay. You're not very. And, you know, it's interesting then. So you lost a bunch of weight at your diagnosis.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Did it all come back. Are you around £140 now, or did. How did that change?

[B]

No, Geez. Something like that has happened to me at least twice. I can drop weight just naturally. Even before this diagnosis, if I would run a fever for around 24 hours, I could drop at least £10 in a heartbeat.

[A]

That's something.

[B]

Yeah. My whole life.

[A]

You're lighter now than before you were diagnosed.

[B]

It took me the first time, like, about a year, year and a half to gain my weight back.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And I generally try to run, like, around 125 to 130.

[A]

Okay. Okay. And that's about where you are now.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So you put some back, but an amount that you. That you're comfortable with.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Yeah. So were you. Were you overweight at 145?

[B]

Maybe a little bit.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

For what I generally would run at, I gotcha. In fact, I had gone, oh, this is maybe 20 years ago. I had gone for a physical and didn't realize that I actually weighed 160. I mean, I never paid attention to my weight my whole life. And I told the doctor, I go, oh, my God, let me tell you what I eat in an average day. And he goes, okay, that doesn't make sense. Went and checked the thyroid to see if it was low. Everything came back normal. So I just started kind of keeping a closer eye at what I ate. And before my diagnosis, it had taken about a year, but I had slowly dropped at least 20 pounds. But then that month or so before my official diagnosis, I just. It was like, just falling off of me. Like water.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Didn't matter how much I ate.

[A]

That's the high blood sugars at that point, plus probably the. The. The. The thyroid too, maybe.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That's what everybody thought it was, the thyroid.

[A]

Yeah. That's why they. That's why they missed the. The high blood sugar, probably a little bit too.

[B]

It could be along the way because they didn't look for it.

[A]

Yeah. Because they thought they had their answer. Yeah. Right.

[B]

I did too. I thought they did, too.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

I don't. I don't blame them for that. And, I mean, we could go on for hours. How many times. I've been misdiagnosed for different things throughout my life, so I kind of take what doctors say with a grain of salt.

[A]

Yeah. I mean, in the end, you did. The thing that I think people have to do is you have to keep trying to figure it out for yourself.

[B]

Yeah, Yeah, I did. And I. And I still do. And now I gotta train to do doctors so I'm not looking forward to it.

[A]

Well, I think it's possible that your kids would tell you that you get. What the. You get more results with honey than with. What's that saying?

[B]

Oh, I start out that way.

[A]

That's not till they let you down that you give it to them, right?

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

How's your husband? Is he scared of you or where does he sit?

[B]

Oh, I don't know. He should be, but he probably isn't.

[A]

All right. Brent, is there anything that we haven't talked about that we should have? Anything you want to add to your story?

[B]

I don't know. Do you want to talk about the dark side of bipolar?

[A]

Is that with somebody in your family? Extended family?

[B]

Right, yeah. Sibling.

[A]

Well, so you said there's a lot of other issues in, you know, in. In your. In your health line, you know, family ways. Let me stop you for a second. You said, I don't know about my kids, though. So are you not, like. Did they not make you aware of their health issues? How old are they, too?

[B]

Well, as far as I know, they don't have any health issues.

[A]

They're not struggling with anything then, okay?

[B]

No, not that I know of. I mean, your kids get to be a certain point, and they don't tell you everything.

[A]

Is that strange?

[B]

Is it strange?

[A]

How does that feel as a mom? The day you realize, like, something's happening at their house and I don't know about it anymore?

[B]

Well, there's not much you can do, right? Yeah.

[A]

Does it make you sad, though, in the beginning? Are you like, oh, I. I can't. Does it feel like you're losing something? Or are you happy to see them kind of like, you know, mature, spread their wings?

[B]

Well, if it's something that you've dealt with in your life and you kind of know a solution, it would be nice if they would ask for your advice. But otherwise, I think people that are parents, you've got to realize that sooner or later it's their life.

[A]

Yeah, right.

[B]

And they have to make decisions, whether it's good or bad. I'm just glad that my kids haven't done, as far as I know, half the stuff that I did in high school and college.

[A]

I don't think we have time for all the things you may have done.

[B]

No, we don't. Because I am a child of the 60s and the early 70s, if you can imagine what it was like.

[A]

I feel like I can. Well, do you think that your siblings story about bipolar, do you think it impacts your story? Do you Think it's something people need to hear or is it just something you want to get off your chest? How do you feel about it?

[B]

Well, I know that you've had a couple of episodes with people who are bipolar.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And it is not an easy thing to deal with. But I don't think you've had a story where someone in a family is affected by the bipolar sibling.

[A]

So this is how it impacts you. Tell me about it then.

[B]

Well, you know my. And I know other friends who have bipolar siblings and it seems like they have a similar trait. And you know people, maybe you shouldn't use my name because I don't want anybody coming after me. But the other side of the coin is how they treat their siblings. Mine in particular is very manipulative and will only show this side to the siblings, but not to my parents who think that she was made out of gold, got anything she wanted in the universe and we all had to struggle for things. Has threatened the family, me and another sibling saying things like, well, I'm going to go off my meds and get a gun and come visit you and then we'll see what happens.

[A]

Oh my gosh.

[B]

Oh, yeah. And I really believe it might happen somehow has. And my parents always felt sorry for. I don't know exactly why. So basically, after my mother passed and my dad was convinced to move out of Jersey to be with her, he has done things like bought her a brand new house and vehicles and put her name on all his accounts and his will and everything in the universe. And that just came out of the clear blue sky. I don't understand why, but I know that she makes it extremely difficult for us to communicate with him or to even visit. So it is difficult.

[A]

Are you saying you think she's controlling his decisions at this point? Oh, yeah, yeah. And moving his. Whatever he's been able to save or.

[B]

Anything to her, as far as we know, probably myself and my other sibling who was involved because he had called us once and said, oh, I need your Social Security number, I'm setting up a special fund for you and your sister to be beneficiaries, blah, blah, blah, said, okay, fine, whatever. And then we're told a year later, her name has been put on everything. So my thought is, if you think she's going to give us a dime, you're out of your mind.

[A]

Is it, can I ask Brenda, is it a lot of money? Is it a hundreds of thousands of dollars? Is it millions of dollars?

[B]

It could very well be, yeah. And it's not that myself and my husband, we manage to set up our stuff. So we're fine.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And we will be fine until the day we die. Unless there's an apocalypse or something.

[A]

Right.

[B]

But my other sister is the one who could really use some financial support.

[A]

It doesn't feel like that's going to be available at that by then.

[B]

Oh, I don't think it's going to happen at all. I really don't. I mean, this person did things like, my mom was at home in hospice. Towards the end, me and my other sibling, we were trying to do what my dad wanted. She did. He didn't want a lot of people there so he wouldn't have to deal with more company. The sibling with bipolar was there. That could be another whole episode dealing with her.

[A]

Well, does she have any other health issues, the one with bipolar?

[B]

Not that I'm aware of.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Interesting enough, and she didn't officially tell her siblings. I also happened to find out through this cousin that apparently she's been going through a. I'm not sure exactly what she would call it. Changing into a male.

[A]

Oh, she's.

[B]

She's out of the clear blue sky.

[A]

She's trans?

[B]

Well, I think so.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

But we're not supposed to know about this.

[A]

I see.

[B]

Though apparently everybody else in the family does.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And it's been going on for a few years, and I thought, oh, what a novel way to use dad's money. I mean, this is a person who is extremely religious her whole life and absolutely hated anything to do with homosexuals or trans or anybody like that.

[A]

So it feels like a pretty big pivot.

[B]

I. Yeah, yeah. Huge. To me.

[A]

That's. It's incredible. I will tell you this, that, you know, I've been shocked over the years of making the podcast of how many people, you know, you've heard, like, how many people, like, oh, I have a bipolar uncle or sibling or something like that. And I've always just brought it up because I've don't really know the, you know, very much about it, but I always think about, like, all these autoimmune issues and inflammation, and I just wonder how it's affecting people. And I think it's, you know, it's not quantifiable. Obviously, I'm not running a study over here, but, my gosh, more people have mentioned bipolar in their family than I. I would have imagined while I'm interviewing people. So that's. That's probably why you thought to even bring it up, because I've talked about it like that. Before, too.

[B]

Well, yeah. And it was very stressful situation. And I've heard you people talk about having viruses and then all of a sudden getting type one, and I was the one in the family. Everybody else would be dropping like flies. Sick. I never got sick from, like, anything.

[A]

Yeah, you probably have a, you know, an aggressive immune system.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And maybe that's what got me in the end.

[A]

Got a little over aggressive at some point.

[B]

Yeah. Well, I mean, your podcast is gold, I swear to God.

[A]

I appreciate that. I'm so happy it's been helpful for you, and I'm really impressed with you. You know, you don't live your life like an. Like an old person who's, you know, can't take care of themselves. But I mean, still like to find a podcast at, you know, 68, 69 years old and. And listen through it and learn things and. And make additions to your life. It's really impressive. Really is.

[B]

Oh, good. I ought to copy that and send that bit to my children so they'll know that.

[A]

No. Yeah. Well, listen, you're alive long enough, your kids don't think much of what you're doing, probably. But, like, I think it is. I think it's really incredible that at your age, you found a problem for yourself. You ran to so many different people who were not trying to, you know, weren't helping you with it in the way that you were hoping to be helped, and you decided to go out and take care of it yourself, and you actually did it. It's really cool.

[B]

Well, and I feel like I'm still learning because I was never taught. All I knew about insulin was that if you take too much, you're going to kill yourself. That's all I knew.

[A]

Right. And that's a hard way to figure out how to do it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And so when I do tweak it and stuff like that with the Omnipod, I'm probably more conservative than I need to be. But I have noticed when I start to fall, oh, my God, it is fast.

[A]

Happens quick. Yeah. Well, listen, obviously, big picture, we want you to be safe. We don't want you having low blood sugars where you can't take care of yourself. That's really important.

[B]

Well, yeah, exercise is a big struggle also. I mean, just walking upstairs, taking a shower, and walking back downstairs, I have dropped as much as 80 points in 20, 30 minutes. Yeah, it's crazy.

[A]

Yeah, it's. I mean, I guess it really isn't. But let me, you know, let me tell you about something while I have you here. Joanne Milo, who's been on the podcast before and is going to be back on it again, has launched a website. It's t1d2100.com.

[B]

I joined that. I joined it.

[A]

Good, good, good. I'm glad you found it. I'm going to have Rhonda talk about it pretty soon. Older. I mean, she's an older person. Joanne is. She has type 1 diabetes, and they're trying to put good content out there and information for people who are living with type 1 into older and older age.

[B]

Yeah, I joined the Facebook group, too.

[A]

Good, good. I'm glad. She's awesome. Joanne's awesome. You'll see when she comes on.

[B]

I'll tell you, when I was first diagnosed, it was like, oh, my God, I just lost 20 years of my life.

[A]

You thought you were going to die earlier.

[B]

Yeah. And that was the impression that I was given from the doctors. So after I found your podcast and there were a few episodes with people who'd been living with it for 20, 30, 40, 50 years, every time I hear one of those stories, it gives me encouragement.

[A]

Oh, that's wonderful. That's really good. Yeah. No, no, it's wonderful for you. It makes me feel good to know that that's happening for you.

[B]

Because my family is like, well, hell, my dad is still walking around, and I think he's 95.

[A]

No kidding.

[B]

And his mom just missed a hundred by a few months. Even if she was the meanest thing on Earth, but she lived long. So in general, we live long lives.

[A]

Yeah. You don't want to lose out on that or have it diminished.

[B]

No. As long as I can keep walking around, I want to make it to at least 95.

[A]

I agree with you. I say the same thing. I want to be able to go to the bathroom and move around and think, and if that, I'll do that for as long as I can, you know?

[B]

Oh, yeah, Yeah. I mean, with the exercise, I. I hope I can. I'm kind of working on it, and I hate to do it, but it seems like I have to start out high in order to not go too low while doing minor things like weeding for 15 or 20 minutes outside. It's really bizarre. I think.

[A]

Gets you. Right.

[B]

I started doing tai chi, which is gentle. I don't even really consider it exercise. If I go into the class at, like, I don't know, 180, 190, at least at the end of that hour, I'll be down less than 100.

[A]

Yeah, that's quick.

[B]

Well, it's wild.

[A]

Have you tried the activity setting on the.

[B]

That's. Even if I'm in activity?

[A]

Even if you're in activity. How about.

[B]

If I'm in activity, how about eating.

[A]

A little something that'll stabilize your blood sugar before you go out? Like, you know, like a granola bar or maybe a piece of toast with peanut butter on it or something like that.

[B]

Make sure I generally eat lunch before I go, and I'll shortchange it maybe 5 carbs or so, just in case.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And then I always make sure I have crackers or something with me.

[A]

So you're doing a little. So. So it's kind of a double thing. So you're eating, but you're also bolusing. So you're outside weeding, for example. But you do have active insulin going, and you're taking off five carbs. Maybe try a little more like. You know what I mean? Like, maybe. Maybe move that insulin down even more before you head outside to. To active. Even if you're covering food. See what happens.

[B]

I know. I just hate going what I consider high, you know? I know, but that's what it is. I mean, when I told my one doctor about this, he goes, just eat a cookie.

[A]

Yeah, well, he didn't have any big answers for you. Doesn't sound like I'm going to stop you here and say thank you because, Brenda, this has been terrific. I'm going to go eat some lunch, and then I'm going to record again in a little bit. I really appreciate you doing this with me and telling your story. It was fantastic.

[B]

Oh, good. I hope it's interesting. And I hope your Rob guy doesn't.

[A]

Have to do too much.

[B]

What does he do, take. Yeah, take too many words out.

[A]

He's not going to take him out. He's going to bleep. Where you cursed, Ben. Where I cursed?

[B]

You got me going. It's your fault.

[A]

I. Listen, I like, I got to be honest with you. The first time you curse, it was delightful. So I was happy you kept doing it.

[B]

Ever since my brother and mom died, it's like I just flipped the finger and curse at everybody. It's like I don't care anymore.

[A]

Okay, well, I'm. I think you should keep being you. That. That. This really was fantastic. Brenda, thank you so much for doing this. Will you hold on one second for me? Okay.

[B]

All.

[A]

Right. Today's episode of the Juice Box podcast is sponsored by the Dexcom G7. And the Dexcom G7 warms up in just 30 minutes. Check it out now at Dexcom.com Juicebox the podcast is also sponsored today by the Omnipod 5. And at my link Omnipod.com Juicebox you can get yourself a free. What'd I just say? A free Omnipod 5 starter kit. Free. Get out of here. Go click on that link omnipod.com juicebox check it out. Terms and conditions apply. Eligibility may vary. Full terms and conditions can be found@ omnipod.com juicebox links in the show notes [e-mail] 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. Oh my, did I get lucky. The Celebrity Cruise Line reached out to me and said, how would you like to come on a cruise before your Juice cruise so you can get a real good look at the Celebrity beyond cruise ship and share some video with your listeners? I said, uh, thank you. So that's where I might be right now. If it's December, let me actually find the date for you. I'm not 100% sure. I think I'm going in December, right before Christmas. Like, you know, like, I don't know, like the third or fourth week of December. I'm sorry, I know this isn't much of an ad, but if you want to see video from me on the cruise ship, my wife and I are going to head out and really check it out to see what it's all about, to grab some great video for you. Get it up on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook so you can see what you'd be getting if you came along on Juice Cruise 2026, which of course leaves from Miami on June 21, 2026. We're going to be going to Cococay in the Bahamas, San Juan, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts and Nevis. Do not miss it. It's a great opportunity to meet other people living with type 1 diabetes, to form friendships, to learn things and just swap stories. It's a relaxing vacation with a bunch of people who get what your life is like. And trust me, there's a lot of value in that. Juiceboxpodcast.com JuiceCruise come check it out and go find my socials to see what that ship looks like. There's also a video at my link that's a kind of a ship tour for the Celebrity Beyond. And let me tell you something, if this ship is a tenth as nice as this video is. I am in for a great time and so are you. Juiceboxpodcast.com Juice Juice Cruise Come along, have a podcast. Want it to sound fantastic? Wrongwayrecording. Com.