#1836 Chris vs. Life - Part 1

Summary

Juicebox Podcast: Type 1 Diabetes

Episode #1836: Chris vs. Life – Part 1

Host: Scott Benner
Guest: Chris
Release Date: April 28, 2026

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Overview

This emotionally candid episode features Chris, who has lived with type 1 diabetes for 38 years. Host Scott Benner guides Chris through his personal journey, touching on childhood diagnoses, family dynamics, struggles with acceptance, substance use, and ultimately transformation. The episode explores how diabetes intersected with Chris's sense of identity, family relationships, and survival strategies—delivering obtainable strategies for living well with diabetes while highlighting the complexity and resilience found in patients’ stories.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Chris’s Early Life and Diagnosis

• Family Background & Upbringing

  • Chris’s parents separated when he was five (“Mom and dad split up early. My mom worked at a bar, and my dad was in and out, traveling,” [02:50]), and he was primarily raised by his grandmother.
  • His grandmother recognized the classic symptoms of diabetes in him due to her brother also having type 1—despite there being no blood relation—showing how experience trumps genetics sometimes (“She goes, ‘You’re diabetic.’ And I’m like… just terrified,” [04:46]).

• Diagnosis Experience (age 10, on his birthday)

  • Chris describes the confusion, fear, and “injecting the nurse with saline” as part of the training process, a unique and scarring memory ([07:08]).

  “They just came in. You're 10 years old, and they came in the room, they're like, 'Hey, this is Patty. Go ahead and jab this jabber with this thing.'”
  —Scott ([07:53])

  “I was shaking. I couldn't do it. I was crying.”
  —Chris ([08:46])

Tools and Treatment in the 1980s

• Early Diabetes Management

  • Insulin: NPH and regular, both pork-derived ([09:38]).
  • Glucometer required manual code entry; test strips came in a jar.
  • Emergency supplies (glucagon) were daunting: “It looked like something out of a horror movie. It was a glass syringe… I hated looking at it.” ([10:32])

• Transition at Home

  • Chris’s grandma took active responsibility for his care, while his mother took longer to catch up due to work and initial lack of knowledge.

  “My grandma said, ‘Well, we got no choice. We gotta take care of him, keep him alive, so this is why we're gonna do it.’”
  —Chris ([12:24])

Navigating Adolescence: Hiding Diabetes and Family Turmoil

• Challenges with Acceptance

  • Chris tried to hide his diabetes due to fear of being “the special kid” or being made fun of at school ([18:18]).
  • Felt emotionally abandoned as a child, a feeling that carried through adulthood ([19:02]).

  “I hid it from everything because I didn't want to get made fun of.”
  —Chris ([18:01])

  “Yeah, very much so… something I am still dealing with.”
  —Chris, on feeling abandoned ([19:02])

• Family Shifts & Childhood Pain

  • Lived with his mother and grandmother; significant disruption when mother remarried:
    • Stepdad was strict and controlling, prompting Chris to move out his senior year ([24:27]).
    • He felt that “we bonded quite a bit” with his mother when times were tough financially, but this changed with improved circumstances ([25:13]).

  “I liked it better when you were broke?”
  “It seemed like it. Because we supported each other.”
  —Scott & Chris ([25:07]-[25:13])

Young Adulthood: Independence, Drugs, and Health Neglect

• Living Alone & Drug Use

  • Chris held jobs to afford insulin (then available OTC), but soon fell into a party lifestyle, heavy drug use (methamphetamine), and neglect of diabetes ([26:44]).

  “I got into some really heavy drugs that don’t cooperate with diabetes very well.” —Chris ([28:02])

  • He describes being in "a fog"—not checking blood sugar, not dosing insulin properly, even being in DKA multiple times.

  "I was so in the fog that I just stayed in it." —Chris ([30:37])

Turning Point: Near-Death & Family Reconnection

• 2015 DKA Crisis

  • After a New Year's party, Chris was found unresponsive, blood glucose at 900, and dropped at an ER by party friends.
  • He called his estranged father for help upon waking. His father rescued him without judgment ([33:40]).
  • This marked the end of his drug period and re-established a relationship with his father ([35:02]).

  “I messed up big time. I don’t want to be in it anymore. If you don’t come and get me, I’m going to go right back there.”
  —Chris ([34:13])

• Family Reconciliation

  • Years later, at Thanksgiving, Chris and his mother processed and reconciled longstanding pain ([36:10]).

Career: World Travel, Racing & “Survival” with Diabetes

• Professional Life

  • Became a mechanic and traveled globally with sports car racing teams ([38:09]).
  • Managed diabetes with routine and old-school methods; continued on NPH and regular insulin until 2015 due to lack of insurance ([31:19], [44:00]).

  “I was regular and NPH until 2015… Once again, you could buy insulin over the counter.”
  —Chris ([31:24])

  • Hid injections in porta-potties at race tracks, not from shame but for privacy amid intensive schedules.

  “Doing shots in a porta potty in the middle of the night, but you know, you got to do what you got to do.”
  —Chris ([41:19])

  • A1Cs during racing years were in the 7–8% range, erring high to avoid dangerous lows in demanding situations ([42:34]).

Personal Life: Sobriety, Family, New Beginnings

• Transition from Racing to Family
  • Pandemic ended racing career; Chris reconnects with a longtime friend who became his wife, becoming a stepdad and forming a stable home ([47:09]).
  • Sobriety from alcohol after realizing “it was just too easy” in the racing culture ([40:46]).
  • Began using modern diabetes management (faster-acting insulin from 2015, Dexcom CGM from 2019).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Childhood & Diagnosis

• [04:46]
  Chris: “She caught wind of what was going on, and she goes, ‘You're diabetic.’ And I'm like... just terrified.”

• [07:08]
  Chris: “At the time, they were really big on pinching and finding the pocket... which you don't really do anymore.”

• [08:46]
  Chris: “I was shaking. I couldn't do it. I was crying.”

• [12:24]
  Chris: “My grandma said, ‘Well, we got no choice. We gotta take care of him, keep him alive, so this is why we're gonna do it.’”

Family & Emotional Wounds

• [18:01]
  Chris: “I hid it from everything because I didn't want to get made fun of.”

• [19:02]
  Chris: “Yeah. Yeah, very much so.” (On feeling abandoned)

• [25:13]
  Chris: “Because we supported each other.”
  Scott: “You liked it better when you were broke?”
  Chris: “It seemed like it.”

• [27:22]
  Chris: “I think in my brain it was nobody’s cared before, so I’m just gonna kind of get the hell out of here and go do what I want.”

Drug Use & Neglect

• [28:24]
  Chris: “I started with meth. That's a hell of a leaping endpoint... it took all the pain away.”

• [30:37]
  Chris: “I don't think I was thinking, Scott. I think I was so in the fog that I just stayed in it.”

Turning Point

• [32:36]
  Chris: “My blood sugar was 900 when they dropped me off, and DKA had already presented itself. And that was what we call a wake up call.”

• [34:13]
  Chris: “I messed up big time… If you don't come and get me, I'm going to go right back there.”

Career & Adaptation

• [41:19]
  Chris: “That lifestyle, it was difficult doing shots in a porta potty in the middle of the night, but you know, you got to do what you got to do.”

• [42:56]
  Chris: “I would… make sure that my blood sugar was a little on the higher side because when we're doing pit stops, I wanted to make sure that... I don't want to get low... that’s, I feel like, of one of the two cases, I can at least get my job done if my blood sugar is a little on the higher side than if it's low.”

Reconciliation and Moving Forward

• [36:10]
  Chris: “Up to Thanksgiving of last year, my mom and I let it all out, and we are now perfect.”

• [47:09]
  Chris: “Her kids said, ‘You know what, we like seeing you on TV, but if you were here, it would be better.’ And that's all it took.”

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Important Timestamps

• [02:35] Chris introduces himself
• [03:53] Diagnosis: Age 10
• [07:08] Unusual nurse training
• [09:38] Old insulin methods and glucometer
• [13:13] Influence of grandma vs. mom
• [18:01] Hiding diabetes, emotional impact
• [24:27] Stepdad friction, moving out
• [26:44] Drug use begins
• [32:36] DKA and ER; wake-up call
• [33:40] Reconnecting with father
• [35:02] Living with father, aftermath
• [38:09] Racing career
• [41:19] Managing diabetes at the track
• [44:00] Insulin/fingers-stick evolution
• [47:09] Transition to family, regular life

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Tone & Style

The episode is candid, unvarnished, and frequently darkly humorous—both Scott and Chris use wit to navigate difficult topics, creating a comfortable space to discuss trauma, addiction, and family pain. Chris’s grounded, open style invites empathy and understanding, embodying the “Bold With Insulin” ethos of facing real challenges with honesty.

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For Listeners

Key Takeaways:

• Diabetes often intersects in complex ways with trauma, family systems, and easy-to-hide forms of hardship.
• Persistence and direct experience (like Chris's grandmother) can be as valuable as clinical knowledge.
• Major shifts—in therapy, relationships, or technology—can restart learning and require new acceptance, even decades into a diagnosis.
• Recovery and reconciliation are possible, even after years of distance or pain.
• Practical: Insulin access, self-management, and even hiding diabetes remain pressing, real-world issues.

Next:
Catch the continuation of Chris’s story in Part 2 to follow his ongoing journey and strategies for life with diabetes.

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Transcript

[A]

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

[B]

Hi, my name is Chris. Been a type 1 diabetic for 38 years and I'm excited to talk to Scott.

[A]

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[B]

Hi, my name is Chris. Been a type 1 diabetic for 38 years and I'm excited to talk to Scott.

[A]

Oh well, Chris, I am Scott. So this is going to work out perfectly good. 38 years seems like a chunk of time to me.

[B]

Yeah, it's. I don't want to say it's flown by, but certainly between 1987 when I was diagnosed to now. Oh, what type one's gotten a little bit more complicated and easier to manage, I think, all in one, really. I had. Let's see. So when I was diagnosed, my grandmother pretty much raised me as a child. My mom and dad split up early. Okay. Five years old was when mom and dad kind of went different directions. My mom worked at a bar, and my dad was in and out, traveling through different states and countries for his job. And I didn't see him that much in my early childhood days.

[A]

Oh. Or something. Sorry. When you said they went in their opposite directions, I thought you meant from each other, but you meant from you and each other.

[B]

Yes. Correctly. Yeah. Correct. Yeah.

[A]

Gotcha.

[B]

And so my grandmother raised me from the time. Geez, I can't remember from that time all the way until. Only until I kind of got on my own kind of thing.

[A]

Okay, and you were diagnosed at what age?

[B]

10.

[A]

10. Okay. So you're 48. You're 48.

[B]

I'm 48. Okay. My 10th birthday, I was in the hospital.

[A]

No kidding. How does that happen to so many people?

[B]

I don't know.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I don't know. But going back to my grandmother, my grandmother had a brother that was type one. And one evening, pretty normal day, I'm going to the refrigerator and get some water, drink some water, go to the bathroom. And this cycle just kept going. I mean, and this. I remember it almost to the tea. And I'm pretty certain that I was grabbing everything in my grandma's refrigerator to drink, aside from, you know, anything like ketchup or mustard. Right. But I'm pretty certain that I downed a Seagram's wine cooler, too.

[A]

Just. It didn't matter. Thirst was thirst.

[B]

I just wanted something liquid. And she caught wind of what was going on, and she goes, you're diabetic. And I'm like. I just terrified. I was like. I just. I don't know. I feel. I felt horrible. Following day. This was the evening, the following day, off to the hospital I went. And grandma was right.

[A]

And she knew because. I'm sorry, who in her family has it?

[B]

Her brother.

[A]

Her brother. And is she your father's mother?

[B]

She is my mom's adopted mom. Okay, so my mom. My mom was adopted from my grandmother. Obviously. That's how that works.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. No, yeah.

[B]

If you. You don't. You don't need to be a genius.

[A]

We should take a left turn and explain adoption to everybody now.

[B]

No, no. Anyways, that's okay. I'm trying to fill in the pieces correctly.

[A]

You're doing a good job, man. Don't Worry about it. Okay. So she's your. Your mom's adopted mother.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And her brother.

[B]

Wait, was. It was a type one.

[A]

But that's insane, though, because. Because there's no blood connection to your grandmother's brother.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

Oh, so it's possible your grandmother is a totem that gives people type 1 diabetes. Is that what you're telling.

[B]

That's what it could be. I mean, it's possible. I don't know if I would want to claim that.

[A]

I've seen the movies. I know what's going on. Wow, that's. Wow, that's really something that. So I'm so glad you put that little piece in, because that. That was. That's an interesting little tidbit there. Okay, so she knows what it looks like because she, you know, extensively grew up with a brother who had typ.

[B]

Yep. And she knew that whole peeing and drinking thing.

[A]

Yeah. And you were diagnosed, I'm gonna tell you, right around the time my buddy Mike was diagnosed. And you're a little younger than we are, by about six years, but still, like, the timing's there. This is where your statement about it's gotten easier and harder comes in. Right. Because.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

So tell people a little bit about what it was like being diagnosed at 10, how you manage yourself early on, where you were getting your support from, if any.

[B]

I'm in the hospital. I'm terrified I'm gonna have to poke myself for the rest of my life with a needle because needles are all evil. And then I started, you know, the nurse came in and the usual stuff. Inject the orange, inject the nurse with water. Wait, that was kind of.

[A]

They had you inject the nurse with saline?

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Huh.

[B]

At the time, they were really big on pinching and finding the pocket.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Right. For the needle to go in, which you don't really do anymore for a. But needles were longer and larger, and it was a syringe back then, so it was a big thing that they were teaching me on. You grab your index and your thumb, and you. And you pinch. And then in the middle of that pinch is a pocket. That's where you put the needle, and that's where the fat is, and that makes it feel the best.

[A]

Oh, wow. Did that work?

[B]

Seem like it.

[A]

I'm gonna. I'm gonna try it the next time I inject myself with something.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, you have to be kind of at a 45 degree angle, but that makes it the easiest without it going into a muscle or hitting the nerve or something like that.

[A]

So this was wrapped around the fact that the needle was larger than you see now in an insulin needle.

[B]

Oh, for sure. Yeah.

[A]

Okay, so I'm sorry, I'm gonna get stuck on this for a second. Like, they just came in. You're 10 years old, and they came in the room, they're like, hey, this is Patty. Go ahead and jab this jabber with this thing. Like, what, did she lose rock, paper, scissors in the hallway or something? Like, how did, how did she. You know what I mean?

[B]

I have no, I have no idea. But having a 10 year old with a syringe in his hand, I remember it was, it was in her arm. I was in the hospital bed. She sat down and she goes, we're going to try this orange. This is what it's going to feel like. And then we're going to inject me. And I'm like, are you. Are you crazy? I can't even bear to get a needle into myself, let alone, you know, what's going on here. And I remembered that they taught me to turn it to where the edge of the needle is facing, like a fish hook kind of thing. Right. So you and I just. She drew in some saline and I injected her with it. And I thought it was. The cry was shaking. I remember I was shaking. I couldn't do it. I was crying.

[A]

Imagine. Doesn't it add another level to it to do it to somebody else?

[B]

Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

Hey, if anyone out there was a nurse at the time this was happening and let kids do this, then please reach out. I would, I'd be ecstatic to speak to you on the podcast.

[B]

Yeah, I think it's. And I. And I think it's interesting because you were blown away by it, and to me it seemed normal, but I've never heard anybody else say. I've heard the fruit stuff.

[A]

Bananas and oranges, usually.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, I've heard that just to get a feel for the, for the skin. But I mean, I. I've never heard any nurse go, it's almost 12, I may as well sit here.

[A]

Go ahead, kid your best whack at it like that. That's really something. I bet you she had a lot of problems. I just want to say that.

[B]

Well, I don't know. That was a long time ago.

[A]

So, anyway. Okay, so you're in the hospital. This is how they're teaching you to take care of yourself. Are you. What's the, what's the insulin setup?

[B]

At diagnosis, insulin setup is NPH and regular. These were pork at the Time. And I cannot remember my blood, my dex, my. My glucometer at the time. But I do remember that I had to put codes in.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

So the strips you would get. You would get a machine, and you'd get a strip package or actually just like a jar like they are now, and it would have a code on the back. You'd have to enter that code in before it would read any of these strips in that bottle. Right.

[A]

Did you have to do the. The solution. God, what did they call it? The. Used to have to, like, test the solution once in a while to calibrate it.

[B]

Right. Yep. It was this whole. This whole kit. And then in the kit that I had for that was also my.

[A]

The lance.

[B]

The lance. And then I. That also, too. I had the emergency.

[A]

Oh, they gave you shot.

[B]

Which was down there. Yeah, it was a. It looked like something out of a horror movie. It was. It was a glass syringe. It was in a red container, and it had half fluid drawn in it. And I was supposed to do another thing and jam it wherever it would go.

[A]

Isn't that fun? And you. You don't recall what that thing was you were supposed to do?

[B]

I don't remember what it was, but I remember you needed to mix it before you could use it. And it was a glass syringe, and I hated looking at it. Yeah.

[A]

You would take the syringe, had the fluid in it. This was the red box from Lily. Right. So the syringe, it was a big needle, too?

[B]

Yeah, yeah, it was a hunker.

[A]

So you were supposed to inject the liquid into the powder, and the powder was in a vial, and then you're supposed to spin it in your hands till it kind of constituted, then draw it back out, then find, I think, a muscle like your butt or something like that, and jam that needle in and throw it in there.

[B]

Yeah. And this is all while you're, you know, going through a coma or, you know, passed out on the floor.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. This is either obviously not for you to do, because you're probably having a seizure while it's happening, but some lucky person in your family trying to stay calm and doing it at the same time. I'll. I'll tell you that when Arden was a few months diagnosed, this happened to us.

[B]

And I remember. I know the story.

[A]

Yeah. I failed miserably trying to put that Lily thing together. I'm very happy. She carries those tubo Kypopens around now, so.

[B]

Yes. Yeah.

[A]

Anyway. Okay, so this is the setup. You're Scared. And you are now home with your grandmother. And is she. Does she. This is interesting because she's two generations away from you, so is she like, all, like, you'll be fine, good luck, or does she jump in to help? Cause I'm trying to decide if the guilt and shame she feels about her daughter abandoning you overwhelms her generational ideas about how to take care of things.

[B]

She dove in. She dove in. It brought. I think, to be honest, Scott, it brought my mom and her mom kind of. And us together again. Oh, it helped a little bit. It was kind of a scare, I think it. My mom was terrified for me, and my grandma said, well, we got no choice. We gotta. You know, we gotta take care of them, keep them alive, so this is why we're gonna do it. And, yeah, she was all for it. And I think for the most part, I stayed with her longer during most days, weekends, and trips like that, just because she was there to be able to pinpoint the stuff that I haven't caught on to yet, like highs and lows.

[A]

Wait, wait. Your mom or your grandmother?

[B]

My grandmother.

[A]

Your grandmother. You stay up. What do you mean? You stayed around longer? You think you lived with her longer or you hung out during the day?

[B]

I was like. My typical visits with her were longer because of the support that she was offering, and my mom didn't have a grasp on it yet.

[A]

Ah. So make sure I understand, Chris, the diagnosis brings your mom back into the fold. You go to live with her, but you're still spending a ton of time with your grandmother.

[B]

Yeah, I'm often. I mean, I'm off and on with my mom just because of the fact of the diabetes and the care that my grandmother could provide. My mom couldn't at the time.

[A]

Gotcha. I understand. And your mom was not quite as good at the one. Probably not. Did she ever catch up? Did you feel like. Did you.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yes. Yeah, yeah. She caught up. And, you know, having. Having the lows. Having the lows the first time in the middle of the night and having that experience where it. You just don't know what. You don't know how to describe how you feel is really, really hard. When a parent is standing over you, like, what can I do?

[A]

Yeah. Now the whole thing.

[B]

And, you know, it's either a high or a low, or it's just a f. This. I'm tired of this already.

[A]

You know, Chris, you might not have perspective for this because of your age at the time, but do you think your being diagnosed with type one brought you back together with your mom. Like, do you think it would have happened otherwise? Diabetes comes with a lot of things to remember, so it's nice when someone takes something off of your plate. US Med has done that for us. When it's time for Ardent supplies to be refreshed, we get an email rolls up and in your inbox says, hi Arden, this is your friendly reorder email from usmed. You open up the email, it's a big button that says click here to reorder and you're done. Finally, somebody taking away a responsibility instead of adding one. Usmed has done that for us. An email arrives, we click on a link, and the next thing you know, your products are at the front door. That simple. Usmed.com SL juicebox or call 888-721-1514 I never have to wonder if Arden has enough supplies. I click on one link, I open up a box, I put the stuff in the drawer and we're done. US Med carries everything from insulin pumps and diabetes testing supplies to the latest CGMs like the Libre 3 and the Dexcom G7. They accept Medicare nationwide, over 800 private insurers, and all you have to do to get started is call 888-721-1514 or go to my link usmed.com juicebox using that number or my link helps to support the production of the Juice Box podcast. Today's episode is sponsored by a long term CGM that's going to help you to stay on top of your glucose readings. The Eversense 365. I'm talking of course about the world's first and only CGM that lasts for one year. One year. One CGM. Are you tired of those other CGMs, the ones that give you all those problems that you didn't expect? Knocking them off, false alerts, not lasting as long as they're supposed to. If you're tired of those constant frustrations, use my link eversensecgm.com juicebox to learn more about the Eversense 365. Some of you may be able to experience the Eversense 365 for as low as $199 for a full year. At my link you'll find those details and can learn about eligibility. Eversense cgm.com juicebox Check it out.

[B]

I think it would have happened. It was not really a lost cause.

[A]

It was just a she was working stuff out.

[B]

To be honest, Scott, she was working her off to pay for Me and. To cover us and to make sure we were doing good.

[A]

And so she was out hustling, and you were kind of like. And kind of with your grandmother while she was out trying to make money. So your mom. Your mom wasn't like. I. I didn't know where to go. Like, she wasn't in rehab or out doing anything crazy or anything like that. Okay.

[B]

Okay. Working at work in a night shift bar and opposite schedules, trying to. Trying to make money in the 80s? Basically, yeah.

[A]

Chief. Other kids?

[B]

Nope, just me.

[A]

Just you. Okay. All right. Well, how did that all go where you're. I mean, how did they measure success for you back then?

[B]

I mean, obviously, I went to. Went to the endo quite a bit. Pretty good healthcare where I grew up. And I remember that once I started, like, I switched schools quite a bit because my mom would move quite a bit. And then once I started trying to kind of accept the fact that I'm gonna have to live with this the rest of my life, that's when. That's when things kind of turned and. And life got even more complicated, I

[A]

guess, because you couldn't accept it.

[B]

I was. I wasn't accepting it, and I hid it from everything because I didn't want to get made fun of.

[A]

Oh, okay. So I wasn't sure. Do you mean acceptance, like, doing the things you need to do?

[B]

Yes. Yeah.

[A]

And on top of that, making sure no one else sees it or knows about it.

[B]

Yeah. And having, to be honest, having kind of a home life was difficult, so home life being difficult and a new disease and a new school here and there. Yeah, it was difficult. It was difficult to get accepted and not feel like a special kid. Right. Just because I had to have candy or I had to check my blood all the time or.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, there was a syringe sitting on my desk or something like that. So it was. It all kind of happened relatively quickly in a time when, you know, at this time, maybe you're 11 or 12, you still don't really know everything.

[A]

When you look back now as an adult, did you feel abandoned as a child?

[B]

Yeah. Yeah, very much so.

[A]

And that. And that sticks with you. Right? That's not a thing you work through on your own.

[B]

Like, that is something I am still dealing with. Yeah.

[A]

Do you have. Are you married now?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

You are? So I'm adopted, and my. And my parents got divorced when I was 13.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And when in the beginning of my marriage and even in my, like, like, dating relationships, if people got upset, I got. I got really upset. So. Yeah. So if people look like they were arguing or upset with each other or. There was any feeling of. The one that took me the longest to get through was when people are disagreeing and they can't come to an agreement before they leave the room. That used to make me feel panicked.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like we couldn't disagree and then all leave because I felt like someone. I don't know what I felt like, honestly, but in hindsight, I think I felt like somebody would definitely not come back if that happened. I. Anyway, stuff like that.

[B]

And. And there's a lot of guilt, too. There's a lot of, you know, why did mom and dad split up? Yeah. You know what. What. What? Was it me? Was it because of, you know, was it this or that? And that actually carries through now to. This is going way forward. We'll get there eventually. But my kids that I have now are from a previous marriage. So now I'm dealing with a new me in the same situation with the stepdad, and we'll get there eventually.

[A]

Yeah. Okay. I get you. Okay. All right.

[B]

I don't want to jump too far forward, but look at everybody. Just.

[A]

I like it when you guys produce when we do this.

[B]

It's good.

[A]

It's good. Keeps me. Keeps me on track. Keeps me from asking the wrong question at the wrong time. I really am getting a lot of help also, I don't want to brag, but I just noticed my calves were dry and moisturized them during that conversation and.

[B]

Oh, good for you.

[A]

I really want to say that I think it's possible I'm a professional at this point because I never lost track of what you were saying or stopped being interested and was able to really take care of some dry skin. So.

[B]

No, you're like, chris is blabbing, look at my calves.

[A]

No, not even. I was doing it at times when I was talking. I'm really. I'm showing off by sharing this with you, by the way, is what this is. This is a flex for me.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Okay, so back to my original question. What did success look like? Or were we not even worried about that was just standing success, or were you looking.

[B]

Yeah, getting. Getting through the day, getting through the shots, and that was a win for me.

[A]

Okay. And then does your health slip as you decide or, you know, maybe it's not a conscious decision, but you're going to kind of put it in the background, not let people see it. You know, I had an adult say to me this weekend that I don't want to malign Any pumps. But like, I had an adult tell me this weekend that the pump they had that they could control from their phone helped a lot with their management and their outcomes. When I asked why, because I assumed they meant there was something about the algorithm or the pump or whatever that would made it better for them. They said, no, I'm, I don't have to pull the controller out now. Oh, yeah, I don't want people to see I'm giving myself insulin. So when I can do it with my phone. It really opened her up to being able to do it in public, which stopped her from waiting long distances of time to give herself insulin.

[B]

Right, yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean, I get that.

[A]

Yeah, I guess you do. So what did that look like? Because how long were you doing just two shots a day before you moved up to some other. You know what I mean? Like, what did ignoring it look like? This episode is sponsored by Tandem Diabetes Care. And today I'm going to tell you about Tandem's newest pump and algorithm. The Tandem mobi system with control IQ+ technology features Autobolus, which can cover missed meal boluses and help prevent hyperglycemia. It has a dedicated sleep activity setting and is controlled from your personal iPhone. Tandem will help you to check your benefits today through my tandemdiabetes.com juicebox. This is going to help you to get started with Tandem's smallest pump yet that's powered by its best algorithm ever. Control IQ technology helps to keep blood sugars in range by predicting glucose levels 30 minutes ahead and it adjusts insulin accordingly. You can wear the tandemoby in a number of ways. Wear it on body with a patch like adhesive sleeve that is sold separately. Clip it discreetly to your clothing or slip it into your pocket. Head now to my link tandemdiabetes.com juicebox to check out your benefits and get started today.

[B]

I think because I had guidance and I had, you know, every three months appointments and all this and all that, it went fairly well. It wasn't really. Oh, it wasn't really until probably 16 or 17 that my life changed quite a bit again and that's when the care really started to kind of crash.

[A]

What's the change that happens then?

[B]

As I got older, my mom remarried. We went from kind of a, we were pretty poor to the, My stepdad at the time still my stepdad now made quite a bit of money. We moved into a nice house and went to a nice school and everything really turned. But we, my stepdad and I struggled quite a bit and Basically from my senior year in high school, I moved out on my own.

[A]

What was the friction point? Did you just not like him being close to your mom, or did you, like, did you have trouble taking direction from him? Was there something you can pinpoint direction.

[B]

Extremely strict. And kind of came in, you know, at the time I was 13 and kind of came in like, this is how you're going to do it. You're going to brush your hair this way, you're going to tuck your shirt in. And I'm like, I don't want any of it. It's just not me. And my mom and I, we struggled, but we were a team. And so that being the team, you know, it might have been chicken nuggets on dinners some nights, but at least, you know what, it was a struggle, but it was a struggle with my mom.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And we kind of like, we bonded quite a bit, actually.

[A]

Did you. You liked it better when you were broke?

[B]

It seemed like it. Because we supported each other.

[A]

Okay. Did she have trouble pushing back against him? Yes, probably because she was moving on, by the way.

[B]

She was moving on and happy. Yeah, you know, she was. She was happy and things were good and money wasn't a problem anymore and.

[A]

Right. She's singing that Jefferson song in her head, probably. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So she. She's got a reason to. And did you feel like she let you down by not sticking up for you when the hair brushing and the shirt tucking and all that?

[B]

Yeah, when it came down to it, I was really struggling and my diabetes started to slip, and I kind of said, either him or me, and it ended up being him. So off I went. Where'd you go?

[A]

No, no, don't be sorry. Where'd you go? And how did you. How did you get insulin and all the things you needed?

[B]

So at the time, the state I was living in, which is where I was born, you could get insulin over the counter.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

So I would basically. I had a pretty good job in high school. Senior year in high school, I was working in a machine shop, so I was making pretty good money and I could afford all my stuff. And after high school, I moved into another house to start a new job. And that's where my life turned, like, pretty much 180 degrees. I got into some really heavy drugs.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And really stopped basically giving a.

[A]

Well, it occurs to me that you. You experienced abandonment over and over again from the same people. Yeah, like. Yeah, from like a younger age. And then again. And then it's not that I can't put myself in her position. But like, I, you know, in the end, like, I don't. I'm trying to decide if you moved out to avoid the pressure for him or if you moved out to avoid the, the letdown you felt when you didn't see her trying to get in the way and help you.

[B]

Like, I think in my brain it was nobody's cared before, so I'm just gonna kind of get the hell out of here and go do what I want. Yeah. And with that attitude, I carried it and got into some pretty bad stuff.

[A]

And how long did you hold together love like Chris is going to be an adult by himself game before it fell apart?

[B]

Oh, not very long. I mean, I. I say, yeah. I mean, it didn't take very long at all. And the people I was around and it was just a. It was a. It was as textbook as you could get as the wrong situation. Yeah. For, for, for me and people you

[A]

met at work who were older than you or people you met other. Where'd you meet these people?

[B]

People at a different job. And someone said, hey, you know, we got this place we're living in, we need help with rent. And it ended up being just an absolute. Just party house. And I got into some really, really heavy drugs that don't cooperate with diabetes very well.

[A]

Can you. Would you put a name to them or do you're not comfortable?

[B]

Methamphetamine?

[A]

Yeah, I guess that's.

[B]

That.

[A]

That's. You started with meth. That's a hell of a leaping endpoint.

[B]

Pretty, pretty much I did, yeah. I didn't really drink or do any drugs in like, you know, high school or anything after. And kind of went right to that because it seemed like the answer and it took all the pain away.

[A]

Okay, that's what I was going to ask you. What did it do for you?

[B]

Yeah, it made me forget about the situation that I was in.

[A]

Okay. Did you have a girlfriend?

[B]

I had off and on girlfriends at the time. A lot of, A lot of friends through school. But at that time I did not know.

[A]

Because you're a father now. Right. So is there any hindsight at all that you have? Like what. Besides, I guess this is tough because I think the hindsight is your mom should have stuck up for it and you would have been okay. But like, like after you were on your own, like, is there a moment or something you could have done or are you at the whim of the, of the current at that point?

[B]

Yeah, I'm pretty much just whatever will go and okay. Oh, that made a lot of things difficult. Obviously, the. Some of the drawbacks is you don't eat. So my blood sugar, I had no clue what it was. I didn't check it. I wasn't doing shots like I should have.

[A]

Can I ask a hard question?

[B]

All right, go for it.

[A]

In that situation, you're not managing your type one. You understand the impacts of not managing your type one? At that point?

[B]

Yeah, at that point, yeah. But I didn't care.

[A]

Okay. And meth is, you know, is. I mean, it's a pretty big swing. So.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So if you're not connected with your mother, your father's absent.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

You're doing meth and not taking care of your diabetes. This is the hard question, day to day. What's the point of your existence? Like, I don't mean. I don't you understand what I'm saying? Like, what is it you're doing? Is it. Are you just functioning? Going from like numbing thing to numbing because you're going to work, you gotta make money, right?

[B]

Uh huh. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

I'm asking, where did you. I guess I'm asking what did you think you were doing when you had time to think about it? Or was there no ability to think about it? Think about it?

[B]

I don't think I was thinking, Scott. I think I was just. I think I was. I was so in the fog that I just stayed in it.

[A]

I say high blood sugar's on top of the drugs too, probably.

[B]

I mean, spacey, very high blood sugar. I remember there's times where I would. You know, obviously, when you get super high and DKA starts to hit, you start to puke on yourself. And I remember that I wasn't eating and I wasn't doing my shot, but I'm like, well, I'm not eating, so I must be okay. And I wasn't. You weren't doing basil even well. So this was still my regular. And n. Oh, you're still regular in

[A]

NPH at that point?

[B]

Oh, yeah. I was regular and NPH, Scott, until 2015.

[A]

Get the out of here. Seriously?

[B]

Yep. I'm dead serious.

[A]

I'll be damn. Look at you. You're a time traveler. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. Well, once again, you could buy insulin over the counter. And I struggled through jobs as I grew up. But we're gonna want to skip ahead. So. Yeah. So in. So in this whole deal, speed up a little bit. January 1st, we go out on a party. I remember we went somewhere, the whole group, everybody was doing all the same crap. So everybody's, you know, did the same crap. And the next morning. That was January. Sorry. That was January. December 31st. January 1st, I woke up in the ER with a catheter and stuff hooked up to me, and I basically was unresponsive for 14 seconds. They said, oh, my gosh. So my party friends dumped me off at the front door and they saved me. My blood sugar was 900 when they dropped me off, and DK had already came in and presented itself. And that was what we call a wake up call.

[A]

Yeah. I was gonna say, is that. Is that the moment where you go, oh, maybe I should try to stay alive a little harder?

[B]

Yeah, I think. Yeah, I think that scared the. That scared the me.

[A]

I really did that. The catheter, if nothing else.

[B]

Yeah. Jesus. Yeah. Gosh.

[A]

I have to imagine there's a moment when you've regained some clarity and you go, oh, there's a tube in my penis. I wonder how that got there.

[B]

Yeah. And how are they going to get it out of there?

[A]

Oh, you're looking around the room. You're like, which one of these people did that? No, no, no. I imagine. So were you high at that time or just in DK or both.

[B]

It was. Everything's pretty much worn off by then, so it was DKA that took me down.

[A]

I see.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Once you realize there's something to do, you're locked into where you live. Like, how do. That's a lot of change to make all at once.

[B]

Yeah. That's where. That's where my father comes in. My dad.

[A]

Not Mr. Jefferson. The. The.

[B]

Not. Not Mr. Jefferson. This is my real dad.

[A]

Okay. Okay.

[B]

He was back in town, I heard, and I've always remembered his phone number. I called him and basically confess. I said, dad, this is what happened. This is where I'm at. You have to come and get me out of here. And that's what he did.

[A]

Well, no kidding. How long had it been since you seen him? Oh,

[B]

three to four. Three years.

[A]

No kidding. And.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

No. No judgment just came and got you.

[B]

No judgment at all.

[A]

Does he have a similar background to yours? Could he understand your plight or is this just good? He.

[B]

No, he. He didn't. But he understood the situation. Okay. And like I said, I was straight up with him. I said, I messed up big time. I don't want to be in it anymore. If you don't come and get me, I'm going to go right back there.

[A]

Yeah. Tell me one more time. Your dad, not a partier, not a nothing. He wasn't like that guy.

[B]

No, not like that at all.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

All right.

[A]

I have a tiny bit of. I have a lot of knowledge about not seeing my dad for a long time and then going to see him again. And it's an uncomfortable moment for him. For you.

[B]

It's tough. Yeah. For everybody.

[A]

Because everyone is either hurt or. Or embarrassed or some mix of that, you know, Angry. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

All.

[A]

Trust me. I think we could sit down and write down emotions for 20 minutes and I'd go, yeah, that one too.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So. So. So that all gets overcome because he realizes you're in actual trouble. Do you live with him then?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Wow. How long do you live with him for?

[B]

I lived with him for a couple years and then I moved on and went to some school for some mechanic, like car mechanic stuff, where that ended up taking me to my next venture of traveling around the world racing cars.

[A]

Okay, well, real quick, though. In those years you live with your father, do you guys ever talk about where he was? Because, I mean, he's. Did he mature? Like, why was he able to be a dad then? I guess is my question.

[B]

I think it woke both of us up.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

I think. I think it was a ton of a. Kind of a. Like, this has to happen and it's going to happen and we're going to make the best of it, and we did.

[A]

Did you start talking to your mom more again, or. No. It was you and your dad.

[B]

I was talking to my mom off and on, but it was still pretty negative because there wasn't much reach out after I left.

[A]

Yeah, well, if you had a nicer house and she could have lived with you, then she might have been nicer to you. Have you let any of that go? By the way, as an adult, how much therapy do you do exactly?

[B]

Well, we have up to Thanksgiving of last year. My mom and I let it all out, and we are now perfect.

[A]

Oh, good for you.

[B]

So it's. But it's taken that long, Scott. Like, it's been.

[A]

Yeah, I understand.

[B]

You know, it's been from the time that I was in high school to. Yeah, we spoke a little bit here and there. My grandmother ended up passing. I heard about that. But, like, we haven't really thrown it out there to what actually did all this until last year.

[A]

Chris, I have to tell you something. In 33 minutes of talking, I've just been trying to act as a, you know, as the person kind of getting your story from you. I haven't felt sad yet. Even though you said a lot of Sad things. Until you said, I learned of my grandmother's passing.

[B]

Huh.

[A]

That made me sad.

[B]

Yeah, that's. That was a rough one. She was. She got dementia really bad and that was it.

[A]

But I don't even mean that she died. I mean that she died and you were unaware that she died. Yeah, that's the part that made me sad.

[B]

Yeah, that did suck.

[A]

Yeah. Jesus. You okay? Is you already talking about all this?

[B]

Yeah, I'm fine. I expected it to. I'm just trying to make sure I don't jump around too much. So.

[A]

Yeah, no, I just want people to real. Like sometimes I get back from people like, they didn't want to talk about that. I'm like, listen, I didn't make him come on the podcast.

[B]

No, I. I mean, a lot of this has to do with what we're here for, so.

[A]

I mean, you know. No, I. No, I imagine your whole leadup is going to. Is going to. Is going to crescendo in a. In a pretty interesting way. So. My God, wait a minute. So you're racing. What are you. What are you racing? Like, little quarters, dirt track. What are you guys doing?

[B]

No, sports car. So 24 hour, 12 hour stuff.

[A]

Oh, wow.

[B]

All the way from all over the country to France to Italy, Germany, all that kind of stuff. And that took me through my career from, let's see, the. Pretty much the year of 2000 all the way to 14, 2014.

[A]

You're a mechanic on a crew. Are you driving or what do you do?

[B]

Yeah, crew, over the wall tires and. And all that kind of stuff. And I loved it.

[A]

Oh, let me ask you a question.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

How much did you enjoy the movie Ford vs Ferrari?

[B]

So it's kind of funny. I used to work for one of those teams and ended up working for one of the other teams. And that Ford versus Ferrari situation kind of happened again in 2016 in France. So it kind of relived it. And I worked for both companies that were part of that.

[A]

No kidding. I can't tell if I just love that movie or if I love Matt Damon more than I think I do.

[B]

It's a good. They did a really good job.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

They did a really good job on that movie.

[A]

So here's the question. If I only let you watch one again, Ford versus Ferrari or the F1 film with Brad Pitt, which do you choose?

[B]

I think that if we're going to go with the reality basis and the history of it, Ford versus Ferrari for sure. Yeah.

[A]

I didn't. Not like F1, but at some Point I thought this is going on forever and it feels a little fantasyful and I wanted it to be a little more real.

[B]

I mean. Yeah. And I don't think that a 48 or 4050 year old guy with suntan wrinkled skin can jump into a Formula one car and do you think he'd

[A]

drive eight feet and go right into a turn?

[B]

Right.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

I mean, there's a lot going on there. So either way, I'm just going to

[A]

admit that I'm 54 and there are times I'm completely with it. Okay. I'm probably as healthy as I've ever been in my life. And there are some times when you're on the road where you think, like, I was a little better at this when I was younger. And so. Yeah. So, yeah. And I'm not going, however, hundreds of miles an hour.

[B]

Right. Yeah.

[A]

Feeling every pebble on the road as the car's dancing over the air.

[B]

Right.

[A]

But anyway, I'm sorry. So that's. Well, that's a really interesting life. Now, during that life, are you married? Do you have kids? During that time, are you drunk?

[B]

Are you drug free? Yes. But alcohol started taking over because that kind of flows when you start winning.

[A]

Oh, the part, the party picks back

[B]

up and things are going well. I started drinking quite a bit. Nothing out of control, but more to where it was really starting to affect my diabetes quite a bit and.

[A]

Oh, okay. Is that a thing you got under control again?

[B]

Yes. You did? Yes. Yeah.

[A]

Would you consider yourself an alcoholic or.

[B]

No, no, it was just too easy.

[A]

He's always there.

[B]

It was always there. It's like you, you go out, you work all day getting everything ready and then you go out and have a beer and then, oh, look, this other team's here. Okay, let's hang out with them. And then. Oh, then, and then you lose and then you hate each other and then you love each other and then it's just, it's just a cycle and it was kind of starting to take over.

[A]

I see.

[B]

Quite a bit.

[A]

Somebody have to step in and help you or did you figure out for yourself?

[B]

No, I figured it out for myself.

[A]

Okay. Any AA or anything like that or.

[B]

No, nothing like that.

[A]

No, just you just were like, I'm gonna stop drinking now. This is not.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

So that lifestyle, it was difficult doing shots in a porta Potty in the middle of the night, but you know, you got to do what you got to do.

[A]

That's where you're doing your insulin.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because wait. Because Chris, are you still hiding it at that point?

[B]

I'm not hiding it, but the races would go. The 24 hour races would go to the following day and you're just looking for a place to be, and I'm just looking for a quiet place where I can. I have a suit on, so I have to unzip this suit and get the belly out and do all that kind of stuff. And I didn't want to do that right in front of somebody. So that's what I always be doing.

[A]

I gotta tell you. Get the belly out is the most descriptive thing anybody said to me all week so far. Yeah, it's like you had to present it to the world so that you could get it.

[B]

Well, yeah, you wear these suits and you're pretty much shoehorned in this thing, you know, it's like a. Yeah, you're getting there pretty snug. So trying to get the zipper actually zips from the bottom up or top down, whatever you want to do. So you get the bottom when you zip it up and get the belly out and just enough skin and off it goes.

[A]

Are they fire suits?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. Okay.

[B]

Yeah. Nomex.

[A]

But you're still at regular mph though, right?

[B]

Yes, I sure am.

[A]

What are your. Do you know A1Cs? Like, what's the level of health care for you during that time?

[B]

During that time? It was. It was okay. I was getting my A1Cs done. I was running about seven or eight. Okay. Not the best control, but I knew it. I mean, I. I would. I wanted to make sure that my blood sugar was a little on the higher side because when we're doing pit stops, I wanted to make sure that

[A]

you want to get low.

[B]

I don't want to get low because that's. I feel like of one of the two cases, I can at least get my job done if my blood sugar is a little on the higher side than it is if it's low. Okay.

[A]

And what would management to lower have meant to you? Would it have meant more insulin or would it have meant different eating?

[B]

Both.

[A]

Both would have helped that.

[B]

Yeah, both would have helped that. And to be honest, at that time, I was so in the gray about insulin, I had no idea. I mean, I just was like, this is what you do. You get this foggy stuff and you get this stuff and.

[A]

Oh, you don't have a functional idea of what all this is doing. It's just.

[B]

I know what it's doing, but I haven't. I haven't updated anything. I'm just still cruising right along with the same scenario.

[A]

Whatever your shots used to be is what they are now. And you're not thinking about it. I mean, you understand functionally what it does, but you're not, you're not looking at an outcome and saying, oh, had I just done this, then this might have gone differently.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

I gotcha. Okay.

[B]

Yeah. All right.

[A]

2015 is when you got a faster acting insulin.

[B]

That's when I got. So my healthcare has never been with racing. You don't have, you're a contract employee, so you don't have any kind of healthcare. And everything you do for healthcare for is kind of up to you. Third party healthcare for a type 1 is, is insanely expensive.

[A]

Right. So that's part of why you stayed with that insulin.

[B]

Right? Stay with the insulin. Because I could go anywhere and buy it over the counter.

[A]

Yeah, but you weren't using a CGM during that time.

[B]

Nope. I had. My Dexcom that I'm wearing now was started in 2019.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

My goodness. Yeah.

[A]

I bet you the first four years without the CGM were probably a rocky start, right, to figure out.

[B]

Oh yeah, for sure. Yeah, for sure. Trying to figure out this and that. I was obviously still sticking my finger, but boy, it sucked because I wasn't, to be fair, I wasn't really doing it. You know, I, when I got on my own and I didn't care about anything anymore, the last thing I was going to do is poke my finger.

[A]

Yeah, well, that pivot from regular and mph later in life to a faster acting insulin, you know, long acting, that stuff, most of your knowledge doesn't transfer to the new idea.

[B]

And no.

[A]

Yeah, that's not at all. That really is. What I noticed when I talk to people over and over again is that they were. They have diabetes and they take insulin, but when you switch them to, you know, I don't know, humalog and, you know, something like that, then they don't know what they're doing. They start over again. As a person who feels like they have 20 years of experience without any of the knowledge that goes along with it.

[B]

Right. Yeah, exactly. Wow.

[A]

Okay, so I'm sorry, the, the racing thing, when that ends.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Why does it end and where do you go next?

[B]

So it ended basically around Covid. It got really, really difficult to do anything, obviously. Right. And racing is kind of like a, it's a, it's an extra thing. Right. It doesn't have to happen. It's all extra money that, you know, I used to call it April 15, racing because a lot of it, you know, is tax. Tax purposes and all that kind of stuff. And I had a really good friend of mine that I had kept in touch with, who is my wife now. I moved to another state when I started racing and stayed where I am now. We'll just call it the South. Met this lady when I first moved here, and we stayed in contact. She got married again, had some children, and it went really sour. And that's when basically I was tired of racing. I got tired of the hotels, I got tired of the suitcases. I got tired of the horrible breakfast in the morning. Just all of the typical things of travel. And her kids said, you know what, we like seeing you on tv, but if you were here, it would be better. And that's all it took. That's nice. Yeah.

[A]

Look at that.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So you just went into a. I mean, that's a pretty big shift from your story to just a regular, like, I'm gonna live here all the time life.

[B]

But, I mean, it's. Yeah, Scott. I mean, I lived out of a suitcase. Single life all the way until 2018. Yeah.

[A]

Wow. That is not that long ago.

[B]

I know.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. How was the transition to being a normie? How did that go? This episode was too good to cut anything out of, but too long to make just one episode. So this is part one. Make sure you go find part two right now. It's going to be the next episode in your feed. Today's episode of the Juice Box Podcast was sponsored by the new Tandem MOBI system and control IQ technology. Learn more and get started [e-mail] Juicebox check it out. The conversation you just enjoyed was brought to you by usmed usmed.com juicebox or call 888-721-1514. Get started today and get your supplies from us Med. Today's episode of the Juicebox podcast is sponsored by the Eversense 365. You can experience the Eversense 365 CGM system for as low as $199 for a full year. Visit eversensecgm.com juicebox for more details and and eligibility. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of the Juice Box Podcast. If you're not already subscribed or following the podcast in your favorite audio app like Spotify or Apple Podcasts, please do that now. Seriously, just to hit follow or subscribe will really help the show. If you go a little further in Apple Podcasts and set it up so that it downloads all new episodes. I'll be your best friend.

[B]

Friend.

[A]

And if you leave a five star review, ooh, I'll probably send you a Christmas card. Would you like a Christmas card? If you're looking for community around type 1 diabetes, check out the Juice Box Podcast. Private Facebook group Juice box podcast, type 1 diabetes. But everybody is welcome. Type 1, type 2 gestational loved ones. It doesn't matter to me. If you're impacted by diabetes and you're looking for support, comfort or community, check out Juice box podcast, type 1 diabetes on Facebook. If you have a podcast and you need a fantastic editor, you want Rob from Wrong Way Recording. Listen, truth be told, I'm like 20% smarter. When Rob edits me, he takes out all the, like, gaps of time. And when I go and stuff like that. And it just, I don't know, man. Like, I listen back and I'm like, why do I sound smarter? And then I remember because I did one smart thing. I hired [e-mail].