#1861 Fight the Power

Summary

Juicebox Podcast: Type 1 Diabetes

Episode #1861: "Fight the Power"

Date: May 27, 2026
Host: Scott Benner
Guest: Gillian (Type 1 diabetic, 23 years experience)

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Episode Overview

This episode features an in-depth conversation between Scott Benner and Gillian, who has lived with type 1 diabetes since age five. The discussion explores Gillian's personal journey—including her rebellious adolescence, working in medicine, her struggle for disability rights in medical school, and ultimately how bureaucracy and misunderstanding of diabetes led her to choose a new career path. The episode is rich with candid, honest anecdotes about living bold with insulin and fighting for one's rights amid systemic misunderstandings.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Early Years & Family Support (02:15–09:20)

• Diagnosis & Childhood Management:

  • Gillian was diagnosed at age 5 in April 2003.
  • Grew up an only child, parents extremely supportive, encouraging "normalcy."
  • Managed her diabetes independently from a young age, including counting carbs and self-injecting insulin.

• Transition to Technology:

  • Reluctant to use insulin pumps (Omnipod) initially due to size and activity (horseback riding).
  • Switched to Medtronic pump at age 11 after reassurances about its durability.
  • Later adopted CGM technology (Dexcom), which improved her health and appearance noticeably.
  • "I started feeling even more free… I started looking not as much of a zombie." (08:02)

• Managing as a Child/Teen:

  • No school accommodations needed; managed diabetes herself at school.
  • Reported strong A1C outcomes in childhood.

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Adolescence: Rebellion & Identity (09:20–13:50)

• Puberty-Related Struggles:

  • Became acutely aware that diabetes set her apart from peers.
  • Felt restricted socially, e.g., missing sleepovers due to parents' fears.
  • Rebellion focused exclusively on diabetes management (ignoring site changes, insulin dosing).
  • "I wouldn't change my pump sites for 10 or 14 days at a time… until they became so sore..." (10:30)
  • "I was that little teenager that didn't rebel at anything else except for my diabetes because I was so mad that I was a diabetic…" (11:06)

• Family Dynamics:

  • Parents were scared for her health but often at a loss to enforce adherence.
  • Gillian: "They weren't scared of me. They were scared of what would happen to me." (10:54)

• Psychological Perspective:

  • Only realized later the risks she was taking by disregarding management.
  • Developed tendency to question authority and be "difficult"—a trait she later owns and even values.

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Medical Complications: Necrobiosis Lipoidica (13:12–19:48)

• Rare Skin Disease:

  • At age 11, developed necrobiosis lipoidica—a collagen/skin disease common in diabetic women.
  • "It kind of looks like I have burns. Some people, they're not as bright red for me. Mine are very bright red." (14:03)

• Impact on Identity:

  • Increased her self-consciousness as a teenager and young adult, especially dating.
  • Manages appearance with natural products; chooses to forego steroid injections due to potential blood sugar complications.

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Adult Life, Relationships & Openness (19:48–25:55)

• Openness with Partners:

  • Candid from the start with husband: “If you can't deal with this… I don't really want to partake in this.” (20:50)
  • Previous dating experiences included ghosting, much of which she attributes to not "putting out" or her health disclosures.
  • Emphasizes the importance of honesty and self-respect in her relationships.

• Perspective on Managing Diabetes Socially:

  • Feels it’s impossible (and pointless) to hide diabetes from someone in a serious relationship.
  • Notes others have tried to keep it a secret, even from their own children—an approach she finds baffling.

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Pursuing a Medical Career: Passion, Setbacks, & Systemic Ignorance (26:38–62:26)

Entering the Medical Field (26:38–33:03)

• Motivated by both diabetes and her father’s medical work to become a doctor,
  • Initially wanted to be a surgeon; shifted to podiatry.
  • Gained hands-on experience: “I ended up assisting and doing every surgery with him from there on out.” (29:35)

The School Bureaucracy Debacle (34:23–62:26)

• Drug Test Controversy:

  • Required drug test for school showed false-positive for alcohol (possibly linked to high blood sugar/diabetes).
  • School initiated an invasive mental health and substance abuse investigation, including demands for her to enter rehab, despite lack of history of substance misuse.
  • "They wanted you to go to a rehab center?" (39:45)
  • Gillian: "Yes. Eight, like, eight hours away for a weekend to monitor me..." (39:57)

• Systemic Ignorance About Diabetes:

  • Eventually discovered that high glucose can cause false positives on urine alcohol tests due to fermentation.
  • "When you're a type 1 diabetic and your glucose is over 100 at the time of a urine analysis test, you can pop a false positive for alcohol..." (42:39)
  • Documentation, ADA involvement, and involvement of a lawyer (who was also a T1D) were necessary.

• Institutional Resistance & Discrimination:

  • School refused to grant reasonable diabetes accommodations (food, phone/PDM for CGM, etc.)
  • Denied requests repeatedly until outside legal pressure mounted.
  • “Why won’t you just comply?” (57:55)
  • Gillian: “I am complying… You're not.” (58:09)

• Emotional Impact:

  • Ongoing legal and hostile administrative conflicts led to stress, burnout, and impaired academic performance.
  • Heartbreaking details about her struggle for the right to basic diabetes management accommodations in class and clinical settings.

The Breaking Point & Aftermath

• Withdrew from the Program:

  • Despite finally winning basic accommodations, a hostile environment and another incident (professor removing her phone/PDM, causing pump malfunctions and a dangerous high blood sugar/exam failure) forced her to withdraw.
  • School gave uneven treatment (bonus points for others, none for her).
  • Institution not properly accredited at the time; leadership troubled (dean lost medical license due to unrelated criminal acts).

• New Path:

  • Embraced a career in nursing—feels more fulfilled at the bedside.
  • Plans to become a nurse anesthetist.
  • Finds meaning in direct patient care and advocacy, citing her own traumatic experience as motivation: "I have decided to go back to nursing school. I start in August and work up to be a CRNA for a nurse anesthetist." (65:04)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Diabetes & Adolescence:

  • "I was just going to completely ruin my life about it." (11:26)

• On Medical School Bureaucracy:

  • "Because of Benadryl? Because of ... diabetes?" (38:19)
  • "I'm an adult. I'm allowed to drink." (39:22)
  • "I've never had to have accommodations for diabetes. Typically, it's just like, oh, yeah, no worries." (41:55)

• On Fighting for Rights & Being 'Difficult':

  • “I fight this to the end… I'll do it. You can't do it.” (54:21–54:27)
  • "You should not [mess] with somebody who's willing to go farther than you." (55:08)
  • "If I can move a thousand pound horse, I'm not going to let you tell me … and be an asshole of me." (67:06)

• On Finding Her Place:

  • "I found a community within your podcast. I was like, oh, I'm not the only one that goes through this bull." (71:32)
  • "I have decided to go back to nursing school. I start in August..." (65:04)

• Host on Institutional Fiasco:

  • “If I can build a recording device in my PDM, I wouldn’t be in med school. … Cut me a break.” (60:31)
  • "Not every school's a school. Sometimes it's just a business." (69:52)

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Important Timestamps

• 02:15–09:20: Gillian’s diagnosis & early diabetes management
• 09:20–13:50: Adolescence, rebellion, and psychological impact
• 13:12–19:48: Necrobiosis lipoidica diagnosis and self-image
• 19:48–25:55: Relationships, dating with T1D, choosing openness
• 26:38–33:03: Passion for medicine, practical experience in podiatry
• 34:23–47:19: The drug test, rights denial, and the start of the school ordeal
• 47:19–55:08: Legal battle, school meetings, standing ground
• 55:08–62:26: Ongoing discrimination, emotional climax, Gillian’s decision to leave
• 62:26–65:04: Transition to nursing, rediscovered purpose
• 67:06–71:32: Reflections on advocacy, school as a business, closing thoughts

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Takeaways & Lessons

• Diabetes Advocacy: This episode is a powerful case study in the importance of knowing your rights, fighting for reasonable accommodations, and the risks of systemic ignorance about diabetes.
• Self-Respect & Openness: Gillian’s story is a testament to the necessity of honesty and self-worth, particularly in relationships and professional settings.
• Institutional Dysfunction: Medical institutions—even those meant to teach compassion—can be ignorant, bureaucratic, and even hostile toward invisible illnesses.
• Redefining Success: Sometimes pursuing one's passion means enduring heartache and changing course. Gillian’s resilience led her to a career where her compassion and advocacy have tangible, meaningful impact.

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Final Note

This episode is a compelling, raw account of what it means to be “Bold With Insulin” outside of blood sugar management—fighting the power, withstanding adversity, and ultimately choosing a path aligned with one’s real strengths and values.

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For more information, visit JuiceboxPodcast.com and check out the Algorithm Pumping and Small Sips series mentioned by host Scott Benner.

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End of Summary.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome back, friends, to another episode of the Juice Box Podcast.

[B]

My name is Gillian. I am a type 1 diabetic of I believe it'll be 23 years. In April I was diagnosed at 5.

[A]

Check out my Algorithm Pumping series to help you make sense of automated insulin delivery systems like Omnipod 5, Loop, Medtronic 780G Twist, Tandem Control IQ and much more. Each episode will dive into the setup, features and real world usage tips that can transform your daily type 1 diabetes management. We cut through the jargon, share personal experiences and show you how these algorithms can simplify and streamline your care. If you're curious about automated insulin pumping, go find the Algorithm Pumping series in the Juice Box podcast easiest way juiceboxpodcast.com and go up into the menu. Click on series and it'll be right there. While you're listening, please remember that nothing you hear on the Juice Box Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise. Always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan or becoming bold with insulin. This episode of the Juice Box Podcast is sponsored by Omnipod5. Omnipod5 is a tube free automated insulin delivery system that's been shown to significantly improve A1C and time and range for people with type 1 diabetes when they've switched from daily injections. Learn more and get started today@ omnipod.com juicebox at my link. You can get a free starter kit right now. Terms and conditions apply and learn eligibility may vary. Full terms and conditions can be found@ omnipod.com juicebox Today's episode is also sponsored by Dexcom, the Dexcom G7, the same CGM that my daughter wears. You can learn more and get started today at my link dexcom.com juicebox My name is Gillian.

[B]

I am a type 1 diabetic of I believe it'll be 23 years in April. I was diagnosed at 5 and my diabetic journey slash life has been very interesting in the last two years.

[A]

Can we find out a little bit about the beginning part before we get to this last two years?

[B]

Yeah, absolutely. What do you.

[A]

I don't know. But you said diabetic journey. The other day Arden said to me, dad, this is my health journey.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I was like, is she being sarcastic or does she mean that?

[B]

So, no, I, I don't know. I think of it, you know, we all talk about. You see the memes on Facebook and everything and it's like it's another job. It wasn't until this whole instance really became a thing that, or I should say until like 2020 when I started working in the medical field. It really hit me that it wasn't a second job or anything. Like, this is my life.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

I was pretty bad teenager, rebellious against it. I. I went on the pump and I got just really lazy with the medtronic.

[A]

How do you rebel? Well, first of all, you're diagnosed at 5, right?

[B]

Yep. Yep.

[A]

Your parents are married?

[B]

Parents, married. No other diabetic in the family? My grandma is a type 2 now. She treats it more like a type 1, but I don't nothing to her. I just don't consider her like a full on type one the way she's doing.

[A]

How about brothers, sisters?

[B]

No sisters, no brothers, only child.

[A]

Oh.

[B]

I was a in vitro, I believe, baby. So it took my parents a few. A few years to have me.

[A]

Ah. That was enough. Getting you out was enough work.

[B]

I always joke because they were like, oh, you were, you were healthy, you were a good kid. We decided not to have any more and I was like, you guys jinx this. You guys jinx this.

[A]

This one's good. What do we need another one for?

[B]

Right, Right.

[A]

So, all right.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So growing up 23 years ago. So Arden's had diabetes since 2006. Was this just like 2003?

[B]

Yes. Yep. I had just turned five, so my birthday is in March. And then I was diagnosed April 7th of 2003.

[A]

Okay, so your management in the beginning was what, like just injections and you had a little meter, right?

[B]

Yep, yep. Carrying ice boxes or not an icebox, but, you know, like a cooler around with us. And parents really always, have always been involved with it.

[A]

What kind of experience did they have managing it? Like, do you know what your A1Cs were back then when you were a little kid?

[B]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, they were. I was very independent actually, until, like, the whole reason I'm on this podcast with you. I never had to have like, school accommodations or anything. One school really was just like, if she knows how to manage it, we're cool. And my parents wanted to be as, quote, unquote, normal as possible. They didn't want me to have this, like, overwhelming, like, chip on my shoulder that I'm excessively different because my pancreas just doesn't want to work.

[A]

Okay, so you're telling me what, you did shots when you were a little kid on your own?

[B]

I did shots up until I was 11 years old. I was a very active horseback rider, and I was very tiny. And the omnipod back then, I remember it Being, like, looking at it and I'm like, I don't want this giant brick being on my body.

[A]

It used to be bigger.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I was just like, well, what if I hit it on a barn door? Or, you know, I had a horse that he liked to nibble, and I was like, well, what if he rips it off? And it just made me really scared. So I didn't want the tube pump either. But then I had a nurse practitioner that came in and just, like, literally beat the crap out of his pump site. And that was game changer for me because I was so afraid that it was going to hurt if I fell off and it got ripped out. And then I. At 11 years old, I switched to

[A]

the medtronic pump because someone showed you, look, you can be rough with it. It's okay.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

So in that time between 11 and diagnosis, are you one of those little kids who's like, giving yourself shots or is your mom and dad, you're doing it yourself?

[B]

I was at school full. I believe that. I mean, right around diagnosis, like, my memory wasn't. Isn't the most great about it, but I believe that they would help me. Like, they learned. Taught me how to count carbs. I was very hands on with my nutritionist at, you know, Nationwide Children's Hospital. I really. They would always ask me, how much do you think for this? You know, how much would you give for this? And it was pretty easy because my carb ratio is like one unit per 15 grams.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So it was just counting in 15.

[A]

The math is pretty. Pretty easy.

[B]

Yeah. So, yeah.

[A]

What are outcomes? Like, do you know what your A1Cs were? What. What are the first ones you're aware of?

[B]

I don't remember those as much. I know I was really well controlled.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

I had no issues because the doctor

[A]

would say, hey, you're doing great. Or.

[B]

Yes, yes. And they would even show me the grass. Like, the older I started to become, they would show me the grass and be like, oh, what happened here? And I'd be like, oh, maybe I just forgot to, you know, give myself an extra half a unit. Because I wasn't sure.

[A]

Right.

[B]

You know, I had lunch at school this day. I wasn't sure, so I gave myself half a unit less so I wouldn't go as low or something like that.

[A]

So you're on the medtronic pump at 11. Do you have their CGM at that point, too?

[B]

I don't think so. I think I was on Dexcom at first.

[A]

Okay. You Liked having a cgm.

[B]

I loved it. I started feeling even more free. My, you know, I used to have like these really dark circles under my eyes and I was always really pale and I started like looking not as much of a zombie. And family and friends used to be like, oh, she looks so much healthier, you know.

[A]

Why do you think that is? Did you have more stability, you think?

[B]

I think it was more stability and I think it was. I have always, even when I've had a pump issue the past couple of years and I go back to shots, not getting that insulin, like, not manual, the automated or the closed loop system, I just feel like trash. I feel like my bones, I have no fluid in my body and everything is just sandpaper. And I don't know if it's because it's not like injections every second that I feel that way, but it just doesn't feel like I even take my lantus. When I take my lantus, you feel

[A]

better on a pump than you did?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Mdi.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

All right, so how do we get from this little girl who's like, I feel more free and this is better to. When do you become a teenager who's like, I'm going to rebel and I choose diabetes to rebel against? When does that happen?

[B]

I think it happened around puberty. At the age of 13, I started realizing that I changed schools and it wasn't the school thing, but, you know, boys, whatever. And I wasn't like, it was always my horse. Still is always my horse.

[A]

Were you going to say I wasn't boy crazy?

[B]

I was not boy crazy. I just started becoming, you know, like puberty essential things of like, oh, well, maybe this girl has a boyfriend because she doesn't have diabetes. Or maybe they're getting to do these things because, you know, these kids are going to go to sleepovers. But my parents don't necessarily trust their parents to wake me up at 2am in the morning to make sure that I'm not double arrows down. Gillian 42.

[A]

Then you're very aware of your diabetes and the impact it's having on big and small things in your life.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Shove it away to make it go away.

[B]

Yes. I was like, I don't want any part of this anymore.

[A]

What does that look like functionally? Like not taking care of it or how do you, how do you move it aside?

[B]

I remember I wouldn't change my pump sites for 10 or 14 days at a time until they became so not infected. Thankfully, I never had to go to hospital for an infection, but until they became so sore or my dad like, was like, look, you are going to change this pump site or we're having a family intervention.

[A]

Do you look back now and see were they scared of you?

[B]

They weren't scared of me. They were scared of what would happen to me.

[A]

But, but why didn't they just come to you on day, whatever it was supposed to be changed on and say, hey, today, Gillian, today's the day we're going to change your pump site today.

[B]

They did and I completely ignored them or I would tell them I changed it and I wouldn't. And so I was that little teenager that didn't rebel anything else except for my diabetes because I was so mad that I was a diabetic and I was different from others.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That it, I was just gonna completely ruin my life about it.

[A]

And did you realize that was happening? So while you're making the decision not to change your sight or to bolus or whatever you were doing. Right.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Do you have a conscious thought, like I am trading health for being able to ignore this or is it not the way it seems to you as at that age?

[B]

When I got older, yes. Right around the time I started driving and you know, I grew up in Ohio. I lived in Ohio for most of my life. My family is still there. It wasn't apparent until I had to have my doctor sign off on my driver's license to say that I was healthy and safe enough to drive. That I realized, oh, somebody can actually take more control than me. And I didn't like that.

[A]

Oh, Gillian, I mean this in a lovely way and I mean this. As the father of a, of a 21, almost 22 year old girl. Are you what they call a pain in the.

[B]

A little bit, yeah.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

I, yeah, I am too, by the way.

[A]

I just want to, I just want to point out. But do you look for arguments sometimes?

[B]

Not all the time. I think a lot of my family would say, yes, I have this, I do this tendency.

[A]

I disagree with them.

[B]

Yeah, I just have this tencent tendency to question a lot of things because I'm so over analytical about literally everything in my life that it sometimes comes off as questioning. And it comes off at or to me it's questioning, but to them it's. I want to argue.

[A]

Are you anxious?

[B]

No, no, not really. I just give thyroid.

[A]

Give thyroid. No.

[B]

Nope. I only have one other disease from this. That's essentially the way doctors explained it to me. Hooked on to my diabetes at 11 years old. I had mono and I went from riding horses and dancing six to seven days a week to complete. Bedridden for three months.

[A]

And then you got diabetes a little bit after that or. No, no, no. Oh, you were older.

[B]

I'm sorry. I got this skin disease called necrobiosis lipoidica.

[A]

What the hell kind of a name is that?

[B]

Yeah. And basically you have to have an autoimmune disease. Back then it was necrobiosis lipoidica, diabeticorum, but they kind of dropped the diabetic quorum because it doesn't just affect diabetics.

[A]

I've heard this one before. What is this?

[B]

It's basically a collagen disease. It very common in females, especially diabetic females. Or there's another common disease it's more common in. But it affects skin cells and skin tissues within the collagen level down below the knees. And it kind of looks like I have burns. Some people, they're not as bright red for me. Mine are very bright red. You can see my veins going through them. It sucks as a female because I swear they grow hair faster than anything else on my body.

[A]

Wait, the veins or the.

[B]

Or the lesions?

[A]

And are they. Are they raised? The Dexcom G7 is sponsoring this episode of the Juice Box podcast and it features a lightning fast 30 minute warm up time. That's right from the time you put on the Dexcom G7 till the time you're getting readings. 30 minutes. That's pretty great. It also has a 12 hour grace period, so you can swap your sensor when it's convenient for you. All that, on top of it being small, accurate, incredibly wearable and light. These things, in my opinion, make the Dexcom G7 a no brainer. The Dexcom G7 comes with way more than just this. Up to 10 people can follow you. You can use it with type 1, type 2, or gestational diabetes. It's covered by all sorts of insurances. And this might be the best part. It might be the best part. Alerts and alarms that are customizable so that you can be alerted at the levels that make sense to you. Dexcom.com juicebox links in the show notes [e-mail] to Dexcom and all the sponsors. When you use my links, you're supporting the production of the podcast and helping to keep it free and plentiful. Today's episode is brought to you by Omnipod. We talk a lot about ways to lower your A1C on this podcast. Did you know that the Omnipod 5 was shown to lower A1C. That's right. Omnipod 5 is a tube free automated insulin delivery system and it was shown to significantly improve A1C and time and range for people with type 1 diabetes when they switched from daily injections. My daughter is about to turn 21 years old and she has been wearing an Omnipod every day since she was four. It has been a friend to our family and I think it could be a friend to yours. If you're ready to try Omnipod 5 for yourself or your family, use my link now to get started. Omnipod.com juicebox get that free Omnipod 5 starter kit today. Terms and conditions apply. Eligibility may vary. Full terms and conditions can be found@ omnipod.com juicebox yes and no. Okay.

[B]

When I was younger, they were really bad and I had like no tissue. They were just up against the bone.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[B]

Yeah. And if I would touch them, they would break open and it would be horrific.

[A]

Holy hell. Is there treatment for it or.

[B]

No, they're starting to get more treatment. The most promising thing right now is having, like steroid injections in them, which I refuse to do because it. I just don't want to deal with the blood sugar issues.

[A]

Well, how long would the steroids help for if you got the injections potent?

[B]

They. They're not sure, but potentially the rest of my life. But I would still have them. They just wouldn't be as red.

[A]

Do you know how, how long the injections would last for?

[B]

Not really, no. Say they saved the rest of my life. Some people don't. I'm more afraid of the, not the blood sugar issues, but the blood sugar issues with having them like injected into and potentially them ulcerating. I don't want an ulcer. They're closed. I'm cool with having bullseyes on my shins.

[A]

Gotcha. You have like the greatest collection of like, tall socks in the world.

[B]

I do, I do. I love my compression socks. Love them.

[A]

Oh, compression socks.

[B]

Help with it a little bit. I use a all natural, like self tanner that in the summertime to blend in some of it. And that I honestly think helps the most because there's a lot of essential oils and natural things in there that helps keep them, you know, moist and not so scaly looking either.

[A]

I didn't want to have to look this up because I don't want the embarrassment of typing it in. But I. Is it an autoimmune issue?

[B]

No, it only is present with people with like an autoimmune Disease, but that was also, like, 10 years ago. Now I'm, like, on a Facebook group, and there's some people that don't even have diabetes, and they're getting this.

[A]

What's it called again? And go slow, please.

[B]

Necrobiosis.

[A]

Necrobiosis lipoidica. Hold on.

[B]

You're good. You're good. It's li.

[A]

It changed it to lipstick, of course.

[B]

Autocorrect.

[A]

Yeah. Good. Lips.

[B]

P I, D, I, C, A, I believe.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And then diabetic. And then on the end of that. O R U M. So diabetic quorum,

[A]

more commonly called necrobiosis lepcodia, is a rare inflammatory skin disorder, usually shows up in shiny yellow, brown, reddish plaques. It is not clearly established as a classic autoimmune disease. The exact case is still uncertain. Curtain. Current references describe it as involving inflammation, collagen degeneration, and blood vessels of microvascular. Are you married, did you say earlier?

[B]

I am, yep.

[A]

Is this hard for you? Like, because you talked about not let. You didn't. Kind of didn't want people to see. Is having diabetes when you're younger. Was this hard?

[B]

It was interesting, that's for sure. I was actually engaged before I met my current husband. But that. It was definitely hard, like, opening up my insecurities to him.

[A]

Yeah. Hey, I don't think you're supposed to call your husband your current husband. It makes it sound like.

[B]

No.

[A]

Yeah, it makes it sound like there'll be another one at some point.

[B]

I never. I never plan on being remarried or, you know.

[A]

How long have you been married?

[B]

About a year and a half.

[A]

A year and a half. And she's like, I'm not doing this again.

[B]

No, no, no. We are very difficult people, and we challenge the crap out of each other. I am good. I am good.

[A]

I like how you started off by going, other people say I'm difficult, and 10 minutes later you're like, I am a difficult person. I just wanted to say.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

So, okay. So tell me a little more about that, though. Like, opening yourself up. Like, how was that difficult?

[B]

So he. When I met him, it was very interesting. I was very, like. I was very overdating. I had been on dating apps, you know, peak Covid. How else are you going to meet people? And I was just, like, kind of just really open. I was like, hey, I have these scars. We're starting to hit summer months. If you can't deal with this and you can't, you know, be there to help me, like, to help reassure that I'm much more than these scars, then I don't really want to partake in this. Like, I'm a diabetic. This is very much my life. If you can't handle it, let me know now. No harm done. We can find other people.

[A]

How long does it take you to get to that point? Like, do you realize you like him and you don't want to be let down if he's going to let you down, so you kind of preemptively have that conversation?

[B]

Kind of, yeah.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

I always, like, I went on dates with people that it went really great and then the next thing I know, I never get a respond back and I never knew why. But with him, it was very different because we had talked on the phone for like four hours at a time up until like 2am in the morning, like two or three times before we met. And it was just very different. I felt very open with him, but at the same time I was like, I kind of don't care if he doesn't like me because there is a person out there that is gonna like me for who I am.

[A]

The online dating thing, what, does it make you cynical after you people ghost you a few times?

[B]

A little bit. I just didn't understand, like, why would you be on a website if you're not gonna at least tell a person, hey, it was a great time. I just don't think you're the person for me, you know?

[A]

Yeah. It wouldn't seem difficult to me to just go, hey, look, I appreciate going out with you last night, but I. I'm not feeling it. And, you know, I. I just wanted to let you know.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. I just never really understood that. But I'm also a very blatantly honest person.

[A]

Are they a lot of them, just trying to get laid?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like, is it as easy as if you don't put out the first time, then no one's gonna get back to you?

[B]

Yeah. Like, I was very open with my mom about this because I was, you know, living at home, and I was like, hey, I'm going on a dateness. This, you know, this is this person's phone number. This is what it looks like if, you know, that was the deal between her and me is she was very supportive about it. She was like, hey, I need to know where you're going, who you're meeting, the picture of this person and their phone number. So if you don't come back, cops are gonna be, you know, we have

[A]

somebody, somewhere to point this at.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. And she was just like, looking at me after a few times and I'd come home, be like, oh, this was such an awesome date. Like, we talked about this and talked about that and. And then nothing. And then she would be like, well, I think it's because you're kind of a good girl in the sense of you don't do that. And I was like, no, I have way more self respect for myself. And that's the problem.

[A]

Well, yeah, because then if, if you did that anyway, if that's not, if that's not all you were looking for also, by the way, I just want to be like, you know, supportive of both genders. If you were just trying to get laid, like, whatever, that's fine. But like, if that wasn't your situation and you, you kind of bent to that pressure and then you're either going to be the girl I messaged to have sex with or I had sex with you and I'm not gonna message you again like that. Those are. There's not a lot of wins in that for you if that's not your goal.

[B]

Yeah, right. Yeah.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Yeah. And I knew people from college that had met their significant other online and I had just gotten out of such a bad relationship that I was like, I need to feel good about myself again and not get the attention from men that, like, you know, you do want to have, or the opposite sex that you do want to have. But I just need to feel good about myself and I need to meet people and I need to have people my age that I can go do things with.

[A]

Even if I eat a dinner.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. And you know, even if it's like a date and we're like, oh, we really don't want to date each other, but we're better off as friends. Like, at least I have somebody to go do things with.

[A]

What's it like to sit down on a. Is basically a blind date and whip out your pump to give yourself insulin? Do you see some of them recoil? Are there other levels of, I don't know, responses that you see?

[B]

Yeah, A lot of times was just like, oh, I didn't know you were diabetic. And I was like, I keep it hidden very well. You know, I had a PDM still at the time, and because I'm now on the Omnipod since college, and it was very easy, you know, winter months to keep it hidden. And if not, I just, I just kind of didn't care because I worked in the medical field. I was in podiatry at the time, and I worked with diabetics day in, day out. And it was something that was an identifier of me that you're gonna. If you're gonna be with me, you're gonna be with that, too. And it's a very big aspect of my life, and you're just gonna have to get over it.

[A]

I don't see another way around it, honestly.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. I'm like, I don't know how. There's some people that keep it hidden from their spouse or their significant other for months at a time. If you go out to eat, you're going to have to give yourself insulin.

[A]

Do you ever hear the woman on here who grew up with a mom who had type one and the mom tried to hide it for, like, over a decade?

[B]

I did not hear that.

[A]

And the mom thought she was hiding it. But I think the woman I was interviewing, her sister. I guess her sister got pinched by her mom one day for lying, and the sister just turned it back on her. Was like. Like, how are you telling me about this when try to pretend you don't have diabetes? The mom was like, what diabetes?

[B]

That's wild to me.

[A]

Those girls were like teenagers when that happened. Like late teens. It's crazy. Anyway, all right, so I feel like we have a good setup for who you are now. I want to know why you wanted to come on the podcast. So what happened to you? Like, walk me up to what happened and take me through your experience.

[B]

So due to diabetes, due to just what my dad did for a living in the medical field, I decided at a very young age I was going to go in the medical field, and I was going to be some form of a doctor. And then older I got, I was like, I want to be a surgeon. I love this partially because I have a bougie mindset, and I grew up in horses, and I needed something to pay for those suckers.

[A]

I was going to say you rode horses as a kid because you were an only child. If there was one more sister or

[B]

brother that wasn't happening, my parents remind me. They were like, oh, you are always open to adopting another type one, like another diabetic, but we told you that you'd have to. It's either the horses or a type one sibling. And I looked at them and apparently was like, well, it's going to be a horses. Screw the other type 1. I'm not sharing this with anybody else.

[A]

So you were. You're pointed at health care coming into college because you have diabetes. Something about your dad's business. But I'M not sure what. And then. And of course, you were looking to make a reasonable income.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

What happens next?

[B]

So I get through college. Covid hits. My senior year, was a little lost. Applied to med schools. Hey, your grades aren't good enough. Then I found podiatry, and I fell absolutely in love with it. There was nothing. Everything just set in stone. I shadowed an amazing doctor in Columbus, and he would take me to his surgeries. And one day he made a joke at a conference that he invited me to and was like, oh, well, we're always hiring. And I said, are you hiring for real? And he said, yep. And I said, can I send you my resume? And next thing I know, I didn't even have an interview. I just got hired as his medical assistant, and everything just fell into place. He invited me to one of the surgeries that. It was really funny. I got to schedule all of his surgeries. So I always made them at the time that, like, I could be there as a student.

[A]

Wonder how many people realized that was happening to them.

[B]

Well, he had a two hour lunch break to do surgeries at the hospital next door.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So I would just make sure that, like, I didn't have an appointment to go to that day over, you know, my lunch break or whatever. And I would go to them, and he looked at me one day and he said, do you want to do this surgery? And I was like, hell, yes, I want to do this surgery. But I was scared. Absolutely. And he said, walk me through it, and then walk me through it backwards. And he said, all right, kid, you're good. I'll make the cut. And then I'm right here. Obviously, he didn't let me do everything by myself, but I ended up assisting and doing every surgery with him from there on out.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

And it was just like magic falling into place. Everything that I had ever been through just came down to these moments. And it was like those magical moments in Grey's Anatomy. And I know that's really stupid because the medical field is nothing like Grey's Anatomy, but in those intros where she's just talking about how surgery in life and, you know, the appreciation for just

[A]

all clicked, and it felt good.

[B]

It felt. Yeah.

[A]

What part of schooling are you in at that point?

[B]

I was postgraduate for my undergrad, so I received my diploma in the mail like all the COVID babies did. And I was just in the job field just trying to make money, figure out what I needed to do to get into medical school.

[A]

Okay. Hey, you being involved in These surgeries, was that legitimately okay, or was this guy.

[B]

Yes. Yes, he was, because he was always there. He put me down as student, and I was essentially his staff member slash intern.

[A]

About that. That's cool.

[B]

Yeah. And some of these. Some of these patients, you know, we would do surgeries in the office, and because of. Oh, my gosh. I'm blanking on the name. The loss of feeling in our feet.

[A]

Neuropathy.

[B]

Yes, thank you. Neuropathy. Some of these patients would have neuropathy so bad that they would just be like, you don't have to numb me up. And she can do it. Yeah, she can do my ingrown. She can, you know, cut this tendon on the bottom of my toe to make my toes straight. I don't care, you know, doc, are you gonna be in the room? He goes, yeah. And so I would just get to do, you know, the procedure. Right then and there.

[A]

You were cutting out people's ingrown toenails.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Can I tell you, Arden had one one time, and I went with her. And for people who don't know, like, they just numb your toe up and then stick basically, like a scissor underneath your toenail all the way back and just chop off half of it almost, then yank it out of the side. Right?

[B]

Yep.

[A]

And I saw it happen. And I. I bet you if I brought it up to Arden right now, she'd be like, oh, yeah, that was wonderful. Because I made a noise and recoiled, and she's like, oh, thanks a lot.

[B]

Right, Right. Yeah.

[A]

But it was horrifying.

[B]

Oh, yeah. I don't think, like, I try to take care of. I have one ingrown toenail that will repeatedly come back from just years of riding horses, and I refuse to go and get it taken out just because I don't want that. I don't want the needle in my foot. I had foot surgery, and that's honestly where the podiatry thing started.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And I had a bone removed. And I remember I went in to my follow up, and I was like, hey, my stitches are really infected. And she's like, well, we're going to have to numb you up. Like, can you do it without numbing me? I really have high pain tolerance. Do it without numbing me. Get this suture out of me. And then she ended up having to numb me, and it was horrible.

[A]

I had surgery on my big toe on my right foot. Like, I think like, a ligament or a tendon kind of came to tack attached, and then they went in there and like did micro needling on the bone to get it to grow back again. Yeah, it's been a couple years. It really worked.

[B]

Yes. Yeah.

[A]

Crazy.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Any. I'm sorry. Anyway, you're good. So doctor lets you do this stuff, you fall in love with it. What happens next?

[B]

So I get into my classes. I didn't need biochemistry, but I needed physics to go into podiatry school, get into that. And a couple years later, you know, I didn't really do well in that physics class because we were still in Covid and they just. The class wasn't set up well at all and I didn't do well like I needed to. To get into podiatry school. So I transfer out of the job because it just wasn't paying. I think it was making like 1350 an hour. And I was driving two hours a day to this job. Fast forward, meet my husband in the meantime and I tell him, hey, I want to do this. Like I want to do this, go back to school, get all the other prerequisites that were too old at the time, like my gen chem and things like that. And then I get in to school, I apply, everything falls into place, you know, I apply and then I get in to. Not my top school, I get wait listed on that, but I get into a school right down the road, essentially like an hour and a half away, still within a half day drive home. And then I get a scholarship too. And my husband and me, we fell in love with the town. It was very small, little like, hey,

[A]

you think maybe we can move there? I can go to school. This will be okay, right?

[B]

Yeah. Cheap houses, safe houses, safe area be great. So we not quit our jobs, but we find a house up here. We decide, hey, we're gonna take a month long vacation before the next four years of hell. And we're gonna spend a whole month together up here in the summer.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And in the meantime, after we move out of. And at that point we were also. We owned a duplex together. So we lived in one side and we rented out to the other to decrease our cost of living and just have income. So we move out of there, we come up here, we get all settled down, we're having a great time up here in the summer. And I wake up one morning and I get a phone call from the school and they're like, hey, we received your drug test. There was a discrepancy on it. We need to talk to you about this now. I took the drug test in May and I knew that there was a discrepancy on it. It was actually about alcohol, but I had to take Benadryl the night before due to an allergic reaction. I thought nothing of it. I sent it in. I was like, I'm not going to get this retested because the school's already paid for this one. They're just gonna see it. Might as well send it in. And I was 26 at the time. 25. 26.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

I'm legal. What are you gonna essentially. What are you gonna do about it?

[A]

You know, for clarity.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The test did not actually show you weren't drunk or drinking or something. No, it was about.

[B]

Just showed positive. That's it.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And urine analysis tests can show up to like three days later on an alcohol test. And I think I took this, like on a Tuesday morning or something. So there could have been a time that on Saturday night, you know, I go on a date with my husband and we have a drink. Wasn't uncommon.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And. But I'm not an alcoholic, and I never have been either, because it's not worth my health. So I go into the school and I'm like, I'm not even calling them back. Can I meet with you in person? I want to discuss this, going to the school. And they're like, well, we're gonna get your entire, like, life story. And I meet with the psychologist and he's like, asking me all these questions. Have you ever thought about killing yourself? Have you ever had to have therapy? All these questions. And I'm like, how the hell does this pertain to me having a positive alcohol test?

[A]

Right?

[B]

And I, you know, I tell him, I said, yes, I've been in therapy before. Two years ago, I was assaulted by a coworker at my job. I went to therapy. They said I was good and I graduated out of therapy, I learned how to cope with it, and I moved on.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And he goes, well, you're gonna have to call the Physicians health program php, because any student that we have at the school that has any sort of yes answer to these questions, you have to go for further evaluation through this mental health program. So I call this these people. And I'm answering all these questions and they're asking the same thing. And then they asked, have you ever been to therapy before? And I said yes. Told them the exact same reason why. The end of the phone call, they said, well, instead of you just coming in for like a four hour intervention or discussion or therapy group, we're probably going to suggest that you go to an outpatient rehab center because you've been to therapy for an assault before and you have a positive alcohol screening.

[A]

What? That. Wait, what's going on?

[B]

And I go, what the hell? I don't.

[A]

You're applying to get into medical school.

[B]

Right, right, right. We dropped our entire life, both his family and my family back in Ohio, dropped the jobs that we did. Love to come up here and focus on my dream. And you're telling me this two weeks before school started, mind you, because of Benadryl? Because of. Well, we'll get further down into this and how it applies to diabetes. At the time, I thought it was Benadryl because my dad was a medical lab assistant tech in the medical field, and he used to do work on analyzers, run all these tests and everything. And he goes, did you take anything the night before? And I said, benadryl. And he goes, you might want to look up and see if that can affect a positive alcohol screening in your urine. And it can contribute to it, much like other things like ibuprofen, high levels of ibuprofen, or steroids or anything can throw any of these drug analysis tests off. Didn't know that because I've had to take these tests a million times before to work in the medical field for a new job. So I get off the phone and I call my mom. I am panicked. I am in tears. She goes, what the hell? Does a diabetic have any business? Like, the horror stories of not being able to give yourself insulin or anything in a rehab center or mental facility is just horrifying.

[A]

Gillian, I want to be clear right now. Like, yeah, they wanted you to go to a rehab center?

[B]

Yes. Eight, like, eight hours away for a weekend to monitor me to see if I was detoxing or withdrawing from any substance happening.

[A]

Are you saying. Listen, I'm not an alcoholic.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And this is completely unreasonable. You have no right to ask me about this.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

But did you consider doing it because you felt stuck because you moved?

[B]

I didn't consider doing the rehab. I knew that it was easier to not to comply up to a certain point and be honest, because if I was honest, then there's less that they can, like, get me, and there's less that I can get myself in trouble with because I don't have anything to hide. I'm not an alcoholic. I'm not a drug addict. I've never done drugs. You know, I'm an adult. I'm allowed to drink. It's.

[A]

I don't know. You guys. Your whole generation's Way too honest. Like, you asked me that question in that situation. Have you ever been to therapy? I'd go, no, because none of your business.

[B]

I was just really afraid because we had to send in, like, medical records

[A]

and stuff of everything, find it somewhere.

[B]

And I thought that they could find it because the place I went to therapy with was also the same place my endocrinologist was with.

[A]

I love that they're doing this to you, but I've interviewed somebody in the last three years who worked in a doctor's office where they were selling massive amounts of narcotics out of the back of the office. Yeah, the doctors, by the way.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. So I. My mom is like, my mom and my husband. And by the time. By the way, my husband and I were planning our wedding through this. Not married, they're both like, you need to call the ada. So I call the ADA and I get on the phone with them, and they put me through to the state's lawyer, essentially, that works with the ada, and they're like, well, we'll call you back. And I'm like, no, I need to escalate this because school starts in two weeks, and they're not sure if I'm going to be able to start. I need to know my rights. I need to know, you know, everything about this, because I have never. I've never had to have accommodations for diabetes. Typically, it's just like, oh, yeah, no worries.

[A]

Just, you know, you're not used to work. You're not used to doing any of this at the moment, is what you're saying. Okay. Right.

[B]

None of this. Never had to have any issues. And so I call them, and they call back with me, and we had this ball rolling, and they suggest, hey, you should call the base. Not the analytical center, but the center that your essentially p. Was sent out to to be analyzed for all this stuff. And I call them and I speak with the medical review officer and. And it comes to find out that when you're a type 1 diabetic and your glucose is over 100 at the time of a urine analysis test, you can pop a false positive for alcohol because of the way things are fermented in your body.

[A]

Huh?

[B]

I did not know this. And I asked her, I said, can you. Well, at first. And I forget about this. They were like, nobody reached out to you about your results? And I was like, no, I just got an email saying that they were done. I sent them in. And she's like, well, has anybody told you that your. Your glucose was 210 at the time of test. Have you ever been tested for type 1 diabetes? And I just, like, break out laughing. I'm like, I've been a diabetic for 21 years. And she goes, oh, okay, that's good. And she goes, your glucose was210 at the time. So there's a very strong possibility that it's not actually alcohol, like from a bottle, but it's alcohol from your body that caused this. Positive. You need to tell the school this. So I go through, I tell my lawyer, and I am meeting with these people. Emails. I have, like, over 200 emails between the psychologist and me about all of these things. And they're like, well, you still need to go to the php, like, outpatient program. And I'm like, no, I need a retest. I'm allowed to have a retest. It's federal law that you're supposed to accommodate for me a reasonable accommodation. So I'm essentially demanding you to give me a blood alcohol test where you draw it from my vein. It's the same amount of testing time.

[A]

Wait, was this first one like a breathalyzer?

[B]

It was. It was. I peed in a cup. I went to a center and I peed in the cups, gave it to them. They checked my temp, and that was it.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

I said, no, I want to. I want a retest. I want a blood alcohol test. And they're like, well, how about this we're going to do. They spoke with the psychologist from the school, and the now social worker that I was assigned to at PHP said, oh, well, we're requiring you to do a pet test. So a pet test is a test that is very commonly used in the court system for, like, child cases where one parent might be a drug user and the other one's trying to get parental rights for them, and they're trying to prove that they have used in, like, the past four weeks, six weeks.

[A]

And who did you piss off at this school, by the way? Did somebody just hate you?

[B]

So basically what happened was I questioned it, and I wasn't just. I hate using this term because I know there's some people don't like it, but I wasn't a sheep, and I just wasn't following the rules, okay? I wasn't complying to them. I was questioning and I was fighting for my rights because I was like, it's diabetes. It's not like I have something that's going to infect every person I ever touch. Well, like, get over yourself.

[A]

Let me pause you for a second. Here. Yeah, I have. Just in case people are listening, are like, she was probably loaded and making up a story for urine alcohol test. High blood sugar can indirectly lead to a false positive result. What happens is not that the glucose looks like alcohol in the test, it's that glucose spilling into the urine can be fermented by yeast or bacteria after the sample is collected, producing ethanol in the urine specimen. This has been specifically described in diabetes and glucosuria can set this up, especially when the urine has a lot of glucose. Yeast, bacteria or contaminations make it more likely. Delay in getting the sample tested can allow even more fermentation and rise the urine ethanol result. This is why positive urine ethanol results by itself can be misleading. Confirmatory markers like EtG and TTS, ETS are often used to help sort out true drinking versus sample fermentation. How about that?

[B]

And I had no idea about any of this.

[A]

The more you know.

[B]

Yeah. And, and when I told my dad, you know, he used to run all these blood and urine sample tests, he was like, that makes sense. But I never knew that either.

[A]

How about that? That's really, that's what a weird thing to run into. So your blood sugar was high and that's why all this happened.

[B]

Yeah. And I remember having an iced chai latte from Starbucks that morning because I was going to go walk dogs on my part time and it would keep me, you know, more elevated throughout the dog walk. So I didn't crash with a client's dog.

[A]

It's, it's interesting though, isn't it? Because like your brain right away goes to, I had Benadryl. And then, and then, then you get stuck going like, well, I mean, we did go out to dinner a few days ago. Maybe I had a drink. And then you start sounding like you're lying when you're trying to figure out what's going on. And then they smell you lying and then this all starts happening even though you were just generally confused.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Right. They want me to do this pet test instead of this blood alcohol test. And I was like whole, like, pump the brakes here. This is going back six weeks ago in my life. I didn't even know that I had been like truly, really accepted into this school because I still was getting all of like my shot records. I mean, I was getting everything put together. No, that's, that's not okay. Because that's not a. I'm asking for a reasonable accommodation. You are wanting even more.

[A]

Yeah, and the only accommodation you're asking for is I have diabetes We've now learned that a high blood sugar could have impacted the test. Just give me a blood test to check again.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

I mean, that's the accommodation you're looking for.

[B]

Yeah, that was it.

[A]

Did you have any feeling that the person you were talking to was what they call ubud? Stay a little dummy. Were you caught in one of those situations where you're like, I cannot believe the person I'm talking to is this dim? Yeah. No, you don't want to say. Go ahead.

[B]

They. Yeah, yeah, that. That's the. That's the most PC way to say how I feel about this entire situation. But what the kicker was was the lawyer that they put me with was also a type 1 diabetic on the tandem.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And she was like, this is ridiculous. And I'm like, no. Like, I've never. Thank you for pointing out the obvious, but how can we, like, proceed? So the school's lawyer gets involved with my lawyer, and now we're just starting to talk lawyer to lawyer. And my lawyers essentially, like, if they let this continue and they don't give you, you know, the accommodation or anything, then we're gonna truly pursue legal action. And there's essentially no way that the court's not going to look at them and be like, you need to apply. You need to comply.

[A]

You're messing this up.

[B]

And I was providing, you know, all the documents. I was documenting everything, and I was just fearful of, well, what are they going to do to me on my first day of school? Because I'm supposed to go. And they're not even sure if I'm supposed to go.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And that was my biggest question was, okay, can we continue all this bullshit on the side, but can I show up on my first day? Because there's no reason that I can't.

[A]

Reset button to hit. Like, can you just go, everybody, hey, we've gotten way out over our skis now. I have type 1 diabetes. My blood sugar was high. Here you have the testing lab that says that could throw things off. Let's test me a different way. I'm telling you, I'm not a drinker.

[B]

Right.

[A]

You know, do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth, essentially?

[B]

And even in my, like, interview my, you know, my statement to enter to school, I've made it abundantly clear that the reason I want to do podiatry was because as a diabetic, I feel like this is my true way to give back to my community.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And to take care of people that need taking care of without being an endocrinologist because I don't want to be part of that world.

[A]

Gillian, aside of that, who cares what your motivation is to become a doctor? I don't care if you just wanted to be rich and you don't care about people at all. Still, you're right to get into the medical school. If you, you applied, you were obviously accepted. And it doesn't matter what your motivation is.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

This shouldn't be so hard, right? Yeah.

[B]

So essentially they, during some point in this, I can't remember if it was like one or two months into school after this at all started, I get a call from, he's not at the school anymore, but I get a call from, I believe he was the assistant clinical dean or assistant assistant somebody really top dude in this school. And he's like, it is important that I meet with you, blah, blah, blah, blah. And if you don't, there's going to be serious repercussions. And I'm sitting at lunch and I get this. And I've told one friend this entire time, because I needed somebody at school to know why I was scared to walk into this place every second of the day. And I just start shaking. Just absolutely full blown panic attack. Okay, I'm calling my mom, I'm calling a lawyer. I'm like, am I even allowed to talk to them? Is this even good to talk to them? And they're both like, my lawyer was like, go talk to them, see what they have to say. I went in, talked with this man, and I find out there is the interim dean of my program and the psychologist also in this room. And I'm the only female in this room. And this discussion continues. And he's like, it just starts talking about this whole situation. He's like, well, why do you feel like you need to have a blood test but you won't have a pet test? And I'm like, because it's against essentially my cons. Like, not a constitutional right, but my right. You're breaking a federal law here. You're not. You're wanting to take this further than it needs to be. And I'm just asking for a reasonable accommodation. And he's like, well, why do you feel like you need to talk to a lawyer? And I, in a very politically correct way, I looked at him and essentially said, because you're beating around the bush and you want to play games, I can't get it through to you that I have this right. And this is all I'm going to stop at. And I don't need to go anywhere else.

[A]

In the end, you don't care about the path test. It's not like it's some very invasive thing. You just were saying, like, this is not necessary and I shouldn't have to give myself over to this.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

I actually. During boot camp, which was the first two weeks of school, it's basically like a test run for medical school. Nothing counts towards your grade.

[A]

Just make sure you're not going to pop. Yeah, right, right, right.

[B]

I actually leave one day and I actually go get the path test done to see where my results were because at the time of all this, I'm like, I'm done drinking because I'm not going to give them any reason to potentially do a follow up or.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. Send you to therapy. By the way, how much when you. And not that this should probably matter, but like when you drank socially, how much were you drinking?

[B]

Like one or two a night.

[A]

Okay. Okay.

[B]

And it's not like a night.

[A]

It was not every night even.

[B]

Yeah, it was. We would go out on a Saturday night and I would have one or two at dinner.

[A]

You are my kind of difficult. Gillian. I want to say that I. I love that you said, no, I'm not getting the test. You can't make me get it, but I'll get it on my own.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I was like, well, I need to see where this is gonna go.

[A]

I don't know if everybody could appreciate this or not, but that is the exact kind of difficult that I am right there. That's awesome. Yeah.

[B]

I was like, if I'm gon fight this, I'm gonna fight this to the end.

[A]

I'll do it. You can't do it.

[B]

Exactly. And so I get the test and of course it comes back negative because it's not been a full six weeks since I haven't had anything.

[A]

Right.

[B]

We're in this meeting and this dude literally looks at me and says, well, I can tell by the way that your body language is you're gonna be a problem during this whole entire thing. And I kind of wanted to look at him like, dude, I'm already a problem. And this is just gon. I'm just going to be a bigger problem.

[A]

You have no idea.

[B]

I'm willing to take this all the way that I need to take this in order to shut you up, because this is so wrong on so many levels.

[A]

Yeah. There's this thing I shared with my wife when we were first together, and she still brings it up, so it must Have. It must have really stuck to her. I told her I was like, you should not with somebody who's willing to go farther than you. Yeah, it really is like. And it's such a. I don't even know how to put this. Like, I feel like for me personally, I'm a perfect American. I have a right to this. Yeah, we can argue about this to the end of our lives if you want to, but I'm not giving into this even though I don't care about it. And there's something about being forced or told or compelled that I find abhorrent. I would not let it happen either. I'm with you. If he told me I looked like I was going to problem, the first thought I would have thought was, well, now I'm going to be. And like, yeah, you and I are right together. I'm sure we would murder each other if we were married to each other. You're handling this even though it's causing problems. And I bet you there were off ramps. I bet you there were off ramps

[B]

for you, for sure.

[A]

I would have done what you're doing, too.

[B]

So I considered like a million times. All right, fine. We're going to go to this. We're going to go to this stupid detox program and I'm gonna just be like, what the hell? And just essentially do my thing and get out and pray to God that I don't die and go into DKA because they refuse to give me insulin or whatever. But in the process of all of this, they're also. They called me in for this meeting to talk about this and to also deny me of any of my accommodations that I requested because the school that I. I was going to at the time would not allow food or water in the classroom. I knew it at the time because I had the pdm. They weren't going to allow me to have my phone or access to it easily to do my exams. So I was like, hey, I need to be able to check my glucose and give myself insulin if I need to, or eat a snack and I need to have food and water in the classroom because I can't control this without it. I mean, we're in the classroom up to nine hours a day and we get a 30 minute lunch break. I need to have this. And he goes, well, your. Your accommodations are denied. And I go, okay, like, essentially. Well, we're going to discuss more about this with my lawyer in the backhand. Let me take a mental note of this conversation further down this process afterwards. I remember it was like this conversation took about an hour and a half and they were just like, why won't you just comply? And I like, I am complying. I'm complying because I'm a person that falls under the ADA and you're breaking about 3 of their laws right now. I'm complying. You're not. And I went back to class and my face is beet red, full of tears, and everybody's just like, what the hell just happened to Gil? Like, Gil doesn't show emotions like this. I talk with my lawyer, I finish the rest of the day, come home, talk to my lawyer, and she's just like, I don't even remember the next steps because I was so flustered. But essentially she discussed with the lawyer and the lawyer finally got them to agree that I was going to take the blood test and that if it came back negative, and this is just, this is not the pet test, but just the blood test, that if it came back negative, I was going to be scot free, essentially. This was not going to be a problem and that my accommodations would be met, dropped.

[A]

And you just move forward.

[B]

Yeah. And I go, all right, I got this three hour window on Wednesday morning. Tell me a time to be at this place. And it got to the point that they wanted me to go to the school's hospital to get this blood test. And I didn't like that because I was like, what if they do something like this isn't below these people to do something to my test or not give me my results or whatever. And my lawyer was like, well, if they're going to go that far, I mean, this, this is a case that's just going to be progressively worse because you can always go get another test afterwards to show that you weren't positive at the same time.

[A]

How long ago was all this?

[B]

This was in 2024, fall.

[A]

Is it all worked out now?

[B]

Yeah, I withdrew from that program because at the time I was dealing with the lawsuit and in my first year of medical school full time, so my grades weren't the best. But their shenanigans kept going. They dropped everything after my blood alcohol test came back negative like I knew it was. And I had accommodations. I was allowed to leave my phone and PDM within 6ft away from me in the classroom and have a juice or whatever I needed. And I just had to show them my screen when I was, you know, bolusing or checking my glucose or whatever. I just had to show them that. And I was fine with that. It was like that is reasonable. I understand. But they also, like, they wanted me to send my PDM off for lab testing to make sure that I didn't have any recording devices in it. And I was just like, you are out of this world.

[A]

Listen, if I can build a recording device in my pdm, I wouldn't be in med school.

[B]

I'd be freaking rich.

[A]

I might be doing something else. You know? Also, don't I get credit for knowing how to do that? Like, cut me a break.

[B]

Right?

[A]

So you think they were just picking back with you at that point?

[B]

They were just. Anything that I was trying to gain, it would be 15 steps backwards. And it was just absolutely exhausting. So I did end up withdrawing, but in the second semester, after everything died down, my professor, we tested in another classroom because all of the campus was testing that day. And my phone was set in the window sill behind me and I had my phone go on do not disturb. So only my Omnipod and my Dexcom app would be light up the screen at 7:55 on the dot for testing days. And it wasn't 7:55 yet and my screen lit up or something. And my professor walks over and she picks up my phone and she looks at it and she sees that I keep getting a text message or something on there and she carries my phone out of the classroom and my Bluetooth disconnects and my pump goes haywire and it puts me on limited mode and I start like, my glucose just starts rising and I can feel it. And I wasn't allowed to like recalibrate my pump or anything that day. And I fail the exam because my blood sugar, I think at the end of the exam was like over 400.

[A]

Oh gosh.

[B]

And this was like a four hour time. And by. I only failed the exam by one point, which was one question. And they wouldn't let me retake it. Everything was on camera, so I had to reopen the case. And then my lawyer was like, is this really worth going to this school? And I was like, you know what? No. No, it's not.

[A]

Yeah, so what, what ends up happening? Do you like, did you just drop

[B]

the whole thing and leave after they agreed to everything? You know, my, my. They got an actual dean at the time. And the dean was like, I want to rectify this. Like, you have the empathy you have. You know, you can go really far in this career. And he finally got my papers for accomm. I applied for accommodations in May of 24 and he finally got my, my accommodation letter on in February of 2025 to protect me. And I was finding out that students were getting extra bonus points on their exams to pass, but I wasn't. And it's just because they were asking or you know, they had a parent that was in the field that was very high up in the field too. And I hate playing that field. But my, neither of my parents are doctors and my dad's now a school bus driver and my mom works in a corporate field. I was not getting any sort of like, oh, your dad's a doctor sympathy like some of the kids did. And they were curving some kids like 10 or 15 points to meet their quota because the school was also not accredited at the time and still isn't. So they had to have a certain number of students to pass to meet the accreditation.

[A]

Yeah. So they can get the accreditation.

[B]

They essentially was kind of forcing me out because they could keep the other students. And it was very apparent that if they weren't going to give me a bonus, you know, an extra point because this professor carried my PDM without my eyesight.

[A]

I see what you mean. Yeah.

[B]

You know, I don't really want to be here. And I was just absolutely just miserable. I think it's funny because my A1C dropped like over 2% the entire time of all of this. I was like, that's really funny.

[A]

What did you end up doing? Like, did you go back to school or did you give up?

[B]

So I withdrew. I started working at a local hospital and I found actually that I would love a career as a nurse because I'm at the bedside and I'm physically helping people. And not all doctors, you know, just sit behind a computer and write prescriptions, you know, or orders all day. But most of them unfortunately do. I have decided to go back to nursing school. I start in August and work up to be a CRNA for a nurse anesthetist.

[A]

Good for you.

[B]

I love my job. I love, you know, I joke with my husband that I'm a professional butt wiper but at the end of the day I'm the one that is at the bedside holding family members hands, helping them eat or whatever. I work in a trauma and neuro ICU and I absolutely love it because I'm physically there. I don't have insurance issues telling me I can't do this surgery on an older lady that who's going to lose her foot in two days because she doesn't have the right insurance or whatever. And I just, all I have to worry about is that patient in the Room or on the floor and get them the help that they need.

[A]

Well, I'm glad for you. I'm glad for you found something that you. That you think you've enjoyed, that it's not fighting with you the entire time. Also, it's only my butt, but I. I wipe a butt at a professional level, I believe.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah, I think I'm good is what I'm saying.

[B]

I mean, we all do it, whether it's our own or others, you know.

[A]

Can I ask you, did wiping other people's butts make you change how you wiped your own? Did you learn anything through the process where you're like, you know what I should be doing? I should be folding this paper instead of crumpling or. Did you have any thoughts like that?

[B]

Not yet.

[A]

No professional takeaways?

[B]

No, no, none yet. But, you know, it. It does suck because I spent my. A very long time chasing after this career. Well, yeah, but the way that this school was teaching us to act and teaching this. Us to have this mindset that, you know, we're God and I know not every school's like this. I tell my story almost to every person I can get a chance to, especially in the diabetic world, because we do have our rights and we need to. You know, it definitely has changed the way that I have looked at what school do I want to go to. Are you going to give me backlash for having accommodations or are you going to be cool with it? Because if you're gonna be cool with it, we have no problem. If you're gonna be an about it, we're gonna have a problem. Because I've already been down this route and I know exactly what to do.

[A]

Well, I'll say this. Even though you didn't win, like quote, unquote, win, sometimes you gotta fight the power. You know what I mean? Like, sometimes you just have to be obstinate and stick up for yourself. And I mean, really, this is advocating on a different level. We're telling people to advocate all the time for themselves with their diabetes, you

[B]

know, and I think that's all I ever wanted to do, was advocate for people, especially for people who, I mean, even if. For people who don't have the confidence just to stick up for themselves over how they look, you know, or whatever. Yeah, whatever it is. I've never been about bullying because with diabetes and being the only kid at school, I was bullied, but I had the mindset of, if I can move a thousand pound horse, I'm not going to let you tell Me and be an asshole of me. It was. I think the point where I knew that I won was right after all of the blood testing issues happened, the lawyer actually, the school's lawyer actually came into one of our classes. It was like the fundamentals of Podiatry, and it was all the not fun stuff, like the paperwork side of being a podiatrist. And he came in and had a class with us, and in front of my, like, 23 other classmates, he looked at me and he said, I am so sorry for what my aunt and my uncle and my school has done to you. Because he was the nephew of the school's dean and owner, essentially. And he goes, I'm so sorry for what we have put you through and what we've done to you.

[A]

So this is a small institution that was trying to get on its feet and.

[B]

Yeah, well, it's actually one of the largest for its scope of field. You know, you have your MD and your other types of medical school, and it was the largest. Their other program had like over 400 students of it. And they've been a school for 25ish years, I think. It's not like they needed this, but I don't know why they did this. I know that the dean that threatened me in my career, he actually lost his medical license because he was selling cocaine and threatened to kill his girlfriend in front of cops and then was made the dean of the school.

[A]

Listen, I will tell you that these two things aren't related, but my daughter went to the Savannah College of Art and Design for a couple of years. And the theory that I saw at that place was insane. So, yeah, yeah, yeah. Not every school's a school. Sometimes. Sometimes it's just a business. And, you know, and that's what it

[B]

is is, you know, my dad made. My parents taught me two things. You're never going to leave high school. And I really hate that my mom is still correct about that because the. That people do. And then my dad was like, everything is a business. Medicine's a business, school's a business. Everything, like. And if you're attending a school, you're the client. But it's really funny because my husband graduated high school and then immediately went into the military and was deployed and everything. And he's like, I will never go to school. And, you know, I was just like, oh, well, maybe, maybe you'll find something that you would want, like an associate's degree. And now. And now, after I've been through all this, he's like, that. I Am never going to school because the amount of bullshit had to deal with since in the three and a half, almost four years I've known you that well.

[A]

I. I think what I've learned. I don't want to sound cynical, but what I've learned is that everything on some level is money or power.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

And like, you know, I've said this on here a million times, but like, just for the kind of button this conversation up.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The same crap that I saw when my son was playing baseball in Little League when he was seven happened in his senior year of college playing baseball.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It's all just money and power. So. Anyway, I really appreciate you telling me this story. I have to jump, but this was awesome. I appreciate you out there fighting for yourself and that you took the time to then tell other people about it too. Getting there. I'm so happy you found something you enjoyed.

[B]

Yeah. Well, thank you for letting me join and be a part of this.

[A]

No, it was awesome. Are you kidding? I appreciate you reaching out. How did you find me? How did you.

[B]

I listened to you. When I worked at Amazon in 2020, we were allowed to listen to podcast and your podcast was a big role in me switching out of that rebellious teenager phase. Awesome. And then meeting my husband. Definitely those two things were a big part of it. Yeah. I found a community within your podcast. I was like, oh, I'm not the only one that goes through this bull.

[A]

Oh, I'm glad to know that. I had no idea. That's wonderful.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What's your A1C today? Can you tell me?

[B]

My A1C was 7.6.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And when I entered medical school, it was like 8.9.

[A]

And are you still working on it? Like, is it a thing?

[B]

I am. I've been in burnout of past couple of weeks, so I've not been. I actually don't have a sensor on because I just needed a break. But I really would like it to be like a 6.5 because I want

[A]

kids pre bolus every one of your meals in a month. A month from now, it'll be 6.5.

[B]

Yep. Yep. I need to get there, Reevaluate your

[A]

settings, pre bullish your meals.

[B]

That's okay.

[A]

That'll get you there.

[B]

Awesome.

[A]

Well, I'm so happy you did this with me. Thank you so much. Can you hold on for one second after we have hang up here? Excellent. Hold on one second. This episode of the Juice Box podcast is sponsored by Omnipod5. Omnipod5 is a tube free automated insulin delivery system that's been shown to significantly improve A1C and time and range from for people with type 1 diabetes when they've switched from daily injections. Learn more and get started today@ omnipod.com juicebox at my link. You can get a free starter kit right now. Terms and conditions apply. Eligibility may vary. Full terms and conditions can be found@ omnipod.com juicebox Dexcom sponsored this episode of the Juicebox Podcast. Learn more about the Dex Dexcom G7 at my link. Dexcom.com juicebox okay, well here we are at the end of the episode. You're still with me. Thank you. I really do appreciate that. What else could you do for me? Why don't you tell a friend about the show or leave a five star review? Maybe you could make sure you're following or subscribed in your podcast app. Go to YouTube and follow me or anything. Instagram TikTok oh gosh, here's one. Make sure you're following the podcast in the private Facebook group as well as the public Facebook page. You don't want to miss please do you not know about the private group? You have to join the private group. As of this recording, it has 74,000 members. They're active talking about diabetes. Whatever you need to know. There's a conversation happening in there right now and I'm there the time all, all the time. Tag me. I'll say hi. Have you tried the Small Sip series? They're curated takeaways from the Juice Box podcast, voted on by listeners as the most helpful insights for managing their diabetes. These bite sized pieces of wisdom cover essential topics like insulin timing, carb management and balancing highs and lows, making it easier for you to incorporate real life strategies into your daily routine. Dive deep, take a sip and discover what our community finds most valuable on the journey to better diabetes management. For more information on small sips, go to juiceboxpodcast.com, click on the Word series in the menu. 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 gaps of time and when I go and stuff like that and it just, I don't know man. I listen back and I'm like why do I sound smarter? And then I remember because I did one smart thing. I hired Rob at wrongwayrecording. Com.