#1874 Medical Gaslighting and Mitochondrial Diabetes

Summary

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Juicebox Podcast #1874: Medical Gaslighting and Mitochondrial Diabetes

Date: June 11, 2026
Host: Scott Benner
Guest: Sandy

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the complex journey of Sandy, a 51-year-old woman who experienced years of medical uncertainty, misdiagnosis, and "gaslighting" before finally uncovering that her diabetes is not type 1 or type 2, but a rare mitochondrial form known as maternally inherited deafness and diabetes. Amidst detailed discussion, Scott and Sandy explore insulin management challenges, systemic difficulties in the healthcare system, the power of patient advocacy, and the impact of rapidly-advancing AI tools in rare disease diagnosis. The episode highlights both the personal toll and eventual empowerment that can come from relentlessly seeking answers.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Sandy’s Long Path to Diagnosis

Background and Early Symptoms

• Sandy was initially diagnosed as type 2 diabetic in 2020, despite presenting with typical type 1 symptoms: weight loss, excessive thirst, and blurred vision. (02:51)
• She has a strong family history of autoimmune disease (Hashimoto's in herself, Crohn's in her son).
• For decades, fluctuations in her thyroid function added confusion to her health picture.

Misdiagnosis and Medical Gaslighting

• Multiple providers dismissed or minimized her concerns, attributing symptoms to anxiety, thyroid issues, or her age.

  “I just started crying because, again, nobody was listening to me...” —Sandy (19:34)

• She repeatedly followed physician instructions, despite internal doubts:

  “I didn't feel like I fit the Type 2 profile...But I decided to be a good patient.” —Sandy (11:54)

• Lack of appropriate guidance with medications intensified the danger:

  “I had lactic acidosis induced by metformin.” —Sandy (24:04)

Medical System Challenges

• Dismissal from a cardiologist, trouble accessing specialists, gatekeeping around referrals.
• Educators and providers unreceptive to her veganism and specific health needs.
• Generally, the healthcare system’s cognitive and emotional bandwidth for diagnostic uncertainty was exposed as limited.
• Both Sandy and Scott critique “they just don’t have time” as an all-too-common excuse.

  “I think I'm about done hearing that doctors can't help me because they don't have time.” —Scott (30:07)

2. Discovery & Understanding of Mitochondrial Diabetes

Reaching Diagnosis

• After years of treatment failures and dangerous reactions (notably, lactic acidosis from metformin), Sandy joined the RADIANT study (Rare and Atypical Diabetes Network). (39:10)
• Clinical and genetic workup led to a diagnosis of Maternally Inherited Deafness and Diabetes (MID) — a mitochondrial disorder.

  “I was clinically diagnosed with what's called maternally inherited deafness and diabetes, where it's a mitochondrial disease that affects my pancreas and my hearing...” —Sandy (43:00)

• The diagnosis explained her complex presentation: insulin-dependent diabetes, hearing loss, digestive issues, short stature, muscle/joint pain, and decades of “grey area” symptoms.

The Danger of Metformin in Mitochondrial Disease

• Mitochondrial disease can trigger lactic acidosis with metformin, making it contraindicated.

  “If you have mitochondrial disease, you can't take metformin because it will cause lactic acidosis.” —Sandy (44:11)

• This insight was only found after extensive self-advocacy, research, and finally, genetic testing through a research program.
• The experience was validating but also sobering—had her rare cause not been discovered, the outcome could have been fatal.

3. The Role of Technology & Patient Self-Advocacy

AI and Online Communities as Lifelines

• Sandy’s husband used ChatGPT to organize and interpret her lab results, which directly influenced effective communication with providers.
• Online support groups, especially for LADA and rare diabetes, were instrumental.

  “If it wasn’t for AI...I would have never got my butthole fixed if it wasn’t for AI.” —Scott (46:04)

• Both note how AI now enables the kind of synthesis and recognition of atypical patterns often missed by overburdened clinicians.
• The future: Scott predicts rapid advances, with AI soon able to aid insulin bolusing and rare disease suspected diagnoses.

4. Navigating Life with a Rare Diagnosis

Ongoing Treatment & Management

• Sandy now uses both basal and bolus insulin through a pump; the transition to technology has improved management, though she notes lack of support for this path (49:00).
• For mitochondrial disease, treatment is symptomatic: insulin, hearing aids, and possibly "mito-cocktails" (supplements like CoQ10, riboflavin, creatine).
• She is waiting for full genome sequencing to finalize her diagnosis and guide next steps. Still, it's difficult to access mitochondrial specialists, as resources are limited.

Living in the “Gray” with Chronic Illness

• Many symptoms (like learning disabilities, muscle pain, and digestive issues) traced back, in hindsight, to mitochondrial dysfunction.
• Medication changes, fear of new treatments/interactions, and missing expert guidance remain significant sources of anxiety.
• The experience foregrounds the need for doctor humility: honest “I don’t know” admissions would have sped her journey.

  “Just tell me that you don't know, and I'm okay with that. Let's move on from there.” —Sandy (30:27)

Community & Information Sharing

• Sandy wanted to share her story to help others in similar circumstances and ensure more awareness of rare, atypical diabetes causes.
• Scott encourages sharing lived experience ("blog posts as podcasts") to enrich data available for AI models and community learning.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Misdiagnosis and Doubt:

  "Throughout my life, I've had health problems...Nothing was ever black or white. And so I was gaslit a lot through my life, and so I was afraid that that was gonna happen." —Sandy [27:06]

• On the Emotional Toll:

  “It's horrible. I have piles of tests and blood work...and I would be told, it's in your head. You have anxiety. You're making it up.” —Sandy [27:52]

• On Systemic Frustration:

  "I'm about done hearing that doctors can't help me because they don't have time." —Scott [30:07]
  "How about 'I don't know' would be a nice answer?" —Scott [30:22]

• Discovering the Cause:

  "I was clinically diagnosed with what's called maternal inherited deafness and diabetes, where it's a mitochondrial disease that affects my pancreas and my hearing...And if you have mitochondrial disease, you can't take metformin because it will cause lactic acidosis." —Sandy [43:00—44:11]

• On Patient Advocacy:

  “People don't want to think. If you think for them, often they're happy about it. So just as long as you're right...” —Scott [10:34]

• On Medical Technology & the Future:

  "I'm ready for the computers to take over. Let's go ... I want something that can dispassionately think about me and come up with the best possible answer." —Scott [34:14]
  "You’re just going to throw your graphs into a thing and be like, hey, how do I bolus for this? And it’s just going to tell you." —Scott [48:00]

• Empowerment and Validation:

  “For everything that I've dealt with in my life, I finally felt validated… I'm like, that's mitochondrial disease...So, like, short stature. I'm short. I'm five feet. My parents are not short...There are just certain things that I have that doesn't run in my family.” —Sandy [44:44—45:05]

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Important Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:29] Sandy's first symptoms & initial diabetes diagnosis
• [05:12] Thyroid swings; ongoing medication struggles
• [10:51] Being labeled Type 2 and initial experiences with providers
• [14:29] Failed attempts to control blood sugars, repeated “gaslighting”
• [24:04] Near-fatal lactic acidosis caused by metformin
• [27:06] Reflections on growing up with medical disregard ("gaslighting")
• [30:07] Scott on the tired excuse of "doctor time"
• [39:10] Joining the RADIANT (rare diabetes) study
• [43:00] Diagnosis of maternally inherited deafness and diabetes (MID)
• [44:44] Emotional validation and connecting lifelong symptoms to a cause
• [48:45] The role and limitations of "mito cocktails"
• [49:43] Use of insulin pumps and barriers to access
• [54:12] Scott explains the biology of mitochondrial diabetes
• [62:04] Fear and incrementalism after years of medical trauma
• [70:27] The importance of lived, non-expert-voiced stories for patient community

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Tone and Style

The conversation is direct, relaxed, and often irreverently funny, particularly as Scott vents his frustration with the medical system and the standard excuses given by health professionals. Both participants balance humor and seriousness, candidly discussing the psychological and logistical challenges of chronic disease. Sandy is courageous and articulate, while Scott is empathetic, pragmatic, and gently confrontational toward systemic shortcomings.

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Resources & Study References

• RADIANT Diabetes: Rare and Atypical Diabetes Network, a NIH-supported study for atypical cases: https://www.atypicaldiabetesnetwork.org/
• CoQ10 & Mitochondrial Support: Mention of “mito cocktails” and widely discussed on rare disease forums.
• AI for Consumer Health: Both guests praise ChatGPT’s utility for organizing and interpreting complex health information.

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Conclusion

This episode stands out as a powerful, lived-case examination of how rare disease, fragmented systems, and the limitations of current medical paradigms intersect. It underscores the importance of self-advocacy, community, and technological tools in managing complex chronic illness — and offers hope, insight, and practical validation for anyone on a similarly winding diagnostic journey.

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Transcript

[A]

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

[B]

My name is Sandy. I'm 51 years old and my diabetes is complicated.

[A]

I created the Diabetes Variables series because I know that in type 1 diabetes management, the little things aren't that little and they really add up. In this series, we'll break down everyday factors like stress, sleep, exercise, and those other variables that impact your day more than you might think. Jenny Smith and I are going to get straight to the point with practical advice that you can trust. So check out the Diabetes Variable series in your podcast player [e-mail] if you're looking for community around type 1 diabetes, check out the Juice Box Podcast. Private Facebook group Juice Box Podcast Type one diabetes. But everybody is welcome. Type one, type two Gestational loved ones. It doesn't matter to me. If you're impacted by diabetes and you're looking for support, comfort or community, check out Juice box podcast type 1 diabetes on Facebook. Nothing you hear on the Juice Box Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise. Always consult a physician before making any changes to your healthcare plan. I'm having an on body vibe alert. This episode of the Juice Box podcast is sponsored by Eversense365. The only one year wear CGM. That's one insertion and one CGM a year. One CGM one year, not every 10 or 14 days. Eversensecgm.com Juicebox the podcast is also sponsored today by the Tandem MOBI system, which is powered by Tandem's newest algorithm, Control IQ Technology. Tandem MOBI has a predictive algorithm that helps prevent highs and lows and is now available for ages 2 and up. Learn more and get started today at tandomdiabetes.com juicebox Today's episode is also sponsored by USMED usmed.com juicebox or call 888-721-1514. You can get your diabetes testing supplies the same way we do from usmed.

[B]

My name is Sandy. I'm 51 years old and my diabetes is complicated.

[A]

Really? Sandy, how long have you had diabetes?

[B]

I was diagnosed with diabetes November of 2020.

[A]

Okay, so we're coming up on your sixth year, is that right?

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

Beginning and.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Kind of diabetes did they give you?

[B]

So I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Even though I presented as type 1. I started losing weight. I was extremely thirsty and I was losing my eyesight and I finally decided to go get blood work, kind of in the back of my mind knowing possibly what was going on, and I go get blood work And I'm at work, and I get the results through Quest diagnostics, and my A1C was over 13, and my glucose was over 300.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And I knew right then and there I was in trouble, but I didn't. I haven't seen the doctor yet, so.

[A]

Hold on a second. Is there other autoimmune in your family at all?

[B]

Yes. So I have Hashimoto's, and my son has Crohn's, and my son was diagnosed with Crohn's six months before I was diagnosed with diabetes.

[A]

Okay, how old is he now?

[B]

He's 20.

[A]

Do you have other kids?

[B]

He just turned 20. And I have a daughter who's 22. She doesn't have any autoimmune issues that we know of right now. Hopefully not.

[A]

Oh, all right. So you. I mean, give me a little bit of how you were feeling leading up to getting this blood work and. And your testing.

[B]

I was feeling really bad. I wasn't feeling good, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. But, you know, any problems I've ever had, I've always blamed my thyroid. Oh, it's my thyroid. Because I've never been able to get it under control. And I would say, oh, it's my thyroid. Oh, it's this. But I knew that something more serious was going on with my symptoms, so I decided to go ahead and get everything checked out. And then I got the results back, and it blew me away.

[A]

Okay, well, what did you mean that you can't get your thyroid under control? For how long have you had hypothyroidism?

[B]

I was diagnosed in my early 20s because I was super skinny. And I went for a regular exam, and the doctor told me that my thyroid looked a little enlarged, but it could be because I was underweight. But she wanted me to get it checked out. And I had blood work done, and it came back with antibodies for thyroid for Hashimoto's, And I went and got an ultrasound, and I had goiters on my thyroid. So I was put on medication, and for years, my thyroid was pretty under control. But lately, I think since I've been diagnosed with diabetes, I can't get it under control because I will swing between hyper and hypo every six to eight months.

[A]

Oh, what is the doctor telling you about the constant swing? Are they looking for nothing?

[B]

I can't get an answer. We just constantly adjust my medication. I just started a new medication called Unithroid, So I've been on that about six weeks. So I'm hoping That will hopefully calm things down. But I've tried all sorts of medications over the years and sometimes something will work temporarily and then it won't work. So I don't. I don't know, I think it's connected to my diabetes or actually why I have diabetes, which I guess we'll get into, but I don't have that answer yet.

[A]

Why did they change the medication? What was the thinking behind the medication change?

[B]

Absorption additives that are in medication. Sometimes, I'm told sometimes certain people can absorb medications because of the additives. If your body's having a problem with those additives.

[A]

Okay, so they didn't give you Tyresin, they gave you what?

[B]

I was on Tyresin, so. But that's. That's for T3.

[A]

No, Tyresin's T4.

[B]

That's right, Tyresin's T4. I'm thinking of Cytomol.

[A]

Side of Mel.

[B]

You're correct.

[A]

T3.

[B]

Okay. I was on Tyresin for a while and that worked for a while and I've been on that twice. So it worked. Didn't work because I went on it because. What, there's only four ingredients in it.

[A]

Yeah. Tyrant is pretty clean, honestly.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And so I went on Tyresin for a while, then went off a tirocin. I've been on Tyrcin, I've been on Levoxyl. Nothing seems to quite do it, but I'm hoping. This new medication, Unithroid, I've never heard of it. Crossing my fingers that it works.

[A]

I hope so too. I never heard of it either. And I talk to people about thyroid stuff a lot and nobody's brought that up yet. My kids, everybody in. My wife uses. My wife uses Synthroid. She can't use the generic. If you give my wife the generic of Synthroid, she crashes pretty hard.

[B]

See, that's what's been happening to me.

[A]

Yeah. And Ardyn uses Tirasen and Cytomyl.

[B]

I've done that.

[A]

Cole does Tirasent and. Oh, God, the pig one. Why can't I think of it?

[B]

Oh, there's Natrothroid. Armor.

[A]

Armor. He does armor.

[B]

See, I tried that and I had a really bad reaction to it.

[A]

Your heart race?

[B]

Heart race. Sweating, dizzy, nausea. Tried it twice and yeah.

[A]

Yeah, he takes a very small amount. If he takes too much, it messes him up too. Yeah, his heart will start racing and stuff. My wife can't take the T3. It makes her heart race.

[B]

I've only been on the T3 temporarily off and on, but not recently. Only when my T3. Like, if I'm not converting to T3.

[A]

So who's managing this for you? Do you have an endo managing this, or is your GP doing it?

[B]

My. I have an endo, yes.

[A]

And they're managing the thyroid?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Okay, well, let's hope that what they're doing for you now balances things out a little bit. Cause you're swinging hyper to hypo. Like, you're all over the place.

[B]

I'm all over the place. I will go, like, really low. Like, I recently was hyper where I was having tachycardia, and I've been up to hypo where my TSH is, like, over 16.

[A]

Have they wondered if you have graves?

[B]

You know, I haven't been tested for graves, and I've researched Graves, and I know that you can have Graves and Hashimoto's, but I tend to go more towards Hashimoto's. But that would be another thing for me to look into once I get other things settled. So it's possible.

[A]

Well, before we move on, I will tell you that our overlords think that because you've had thyroid issues for 30 years, you should be looking into whether your dose is too high or too low, if it's an absorption issue, if you have graves, or if something called toxic nodules might exist.

[B]

Oh, let me write that down. Toxic nodules.

[A]

You want me to click on it?

[B]

I don't know about that.

[A]

I'll make clicky on it and see what it says.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Oh, let's see. Hashimoto's thyroiditis is also known as chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis or autoimmune thyroiditis. It is an autoimmune disorder. That means you're developing antibodies, and we know all that. What's about the toxic nodules? Get the toxin nodules. All right, I'm just going to go back to this. Why am I even bothering. Why am I even bothering with the Internet? Why don't I just ask our computer overlords and. Stop. Stop with this nonsense of. Let's see. Pulling up the cleanest explanation of. Let's see what we can find out. Toxic nodule is a thyroid lump that starts making thyroid hormone on its own without listening to the normal control signals from the pituitary gland, which is tsh. I don't know. I can feel like, racing heart palpitations, anxiety, shakiness, heat intolerance, weight loss, trouble

[B]

sleeping, more frequent bowel movements when I'm closer to hyperthyroidism. I mean, I can mention it to my. To My doctor, next time I'm in and see, I guess I'd have to get an ultrasound done.

[A]

I mean, don't tell her you asked. You started thinking about it while you're recording a podcast because she'll probably like have you committed.

[B]

But anyway, she knows I research a lot of things because I have complicated things going on. So I'm always going in with like, hey, we need to talk about this. And I read about this, so.

[A]

No, no, listen, I'm gonna tell you right now. My wife was on the cusp of needing. We thought she needed an iron infusion. The doctor thought so too, but the labs didn't bear weight for insurance. So my wife's been struggling and she's trying to get the doctor to do it again. Doctor's like, well, we just did it. We can't really do it again. My wife did like five, she took her blood work, threw it in a chatgpt, had it put together a one page describer for the doctor, threw it into the notes for the doctor and said, hey, look, here's the blood work I loaded in, here's the answer I got back and she's got an appointment on Monday.

[B]

Okay, I gotta, gotta look into this stuff.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, Listen, Sandy, the truth is people don't want to think. If you think for them often they're happy about it. So just as long as you're right, you know, if you're, if you're not, then it's gonna be more of an issue. So, okay, so you go in, you get an initial type 2 diagnosis.

[B]

So the medical professional that I was with when I got that, when I got my blood work back, it was a nurse practitioner who I really like, but I think this was just too, like, not in her wheelhouse. She just kept telling me to be gluten free and sugar free and she put me on metformin and glycobride. I think it was okay. And the regular metformin, not the time you leave. So I was constantly sick and I was only on it for a few weeks. And the glycobride was having me, I was having like a lot of lows, like really bad lows. So I got in with an endocrinologist and she's looking at me and she's like, you're not a type two, you are a type one. And I was like, that does make more sense. Didn't present as a type 2. You know, I have Hashimoto's. So she goes ahead and does all my blood work and I Did not have any markers for type one. She goes, well, you are type two. And that hit me really hard because it didn't make sense to me because I don't know how to put this without sounding judgy or rude. So I apologize to anybody, but I didn't feel that I fit the Type 2 profile.

[A]

Your frame, your body, say you weren't carrying extra weight. You don't think you were eating the certain way.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

That kind of stuff. And that's what made you think. I don't think that's right. Why does the doctor start off by going, hey, you're definitely not type 2. You're a type 1. Then the antibody thing throws them completely off.

[B]

That's. I mean, just because I didn't have the antibodies, they're just saying, oh, well, you're automatically type 2. So I decided to be a good patient. I listened, I took all the medication. She put me on extended release metformin, put me on Genovia. I met with a diabetes educator who really didn't know how to talk with me. So I'm vegan. I've been vegan for 30 years. I'm not this health nut vegan. So just disclaimer. I do eat Oreos and, you know, things that are not healthy, but I do try to eat as healthy as possible.

[A]

Tell me where your veganism comes from. You have trouble eating animals? What is it? Yeah.

[B]

Yes. So when I. In the 90s, I was in a zookeeping program where I live. I wanted to be a zookeeper, and I wanted to help animals. And it just didn't make sense if I wanted to help animals. And I was also hurting them. So for me, that's where it stems

[A]

got you going, and you kept going that direction. Okay. Did you ever become a zookeeper?

[B]

Yes, I was a zookeeper for quite a long time. It was my first career.

[A]

Whoa. No kidding. That's awesome. I was just with a friend of mine this weekend. Started his life off as a zookeeper.

[B]

Yeah, it's a great career. But I changed things, so. Yeah. So I met with a diabetes educator, and we were talking about all the food, and of course, everything I eat was not on the list. You know, tofu is not on the list. Nuts and seeds were kind of on the list. But she's telling me, well, you can't eat this and you can't eat that. And I was like, but I know I can eat these things. Like, I know, like, it's okay for me to eat these things, even though you're telling Me, I can't. So I was like, look, I'm going to do my own research and I will figure this out. So I cleaned up how I ate really well, because I was like, look, if I'm type two, I'm going to act like a type two, and I'm going to do everything in my body, everything that I can do to make sure that I reverse this.

[A]

Yeah, you were committed to, if this is the. If this. This is what's going on, I'm gonna take a hard swing at it and see what I can make happen.

[B]

And it didn't work. It didn't work. So it was working for a while, and my blood sugar would go up and it would kind of come down. And my doctor's like, well, yeah, you're gonna spike high, but as long as it comes down, you're fine. We up the dose of my Metformin, you know, and that's all she kept telling me. My A1C. I don't remember what my A1C was. I mean, it definitely came down, but it wasn't what I wanted it to be or what I thought would be good.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So it just kept going back and forth and back and forth. So I was on metformin for a few years, and I was doing everything that I should do, listening to my doctor, doing all my research, and I just started not feeling good. I started getting high blood pressure, and I kept going to my doctor and I said, look, I'm not feeling good. I can't put my finger on it, though, but just something isn't right. And she ignored me, wouldn't listen to me, and my blood pressure kept going up. And she's like, well, you're almost 15. You have diabetes. What do you expect? And I'm like, but I haven't had diabetes that long. It is somewhat under control. I'm eating really well. It doesn't make sense.

[A]

Are you in a part of the country where everybody's got diabetes? So she just thought like, well, this is what happens to these people. Is that it?

[B]

I don't know. I don't know, to be honest. I've met a few, but I don't. I don't have an answer for that.

[A]

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[B]

It's possible. Yeah, I mean, I don't think she knew what to say or do right? So I went along with that and I just wasn't feeling good. One night I had really bad tachycardi. Tachycardia. My husband took me to the er. Everything came back normal except my TSH was really high and they're like, oh, it must be your thyroid. So we go adjust my thyroid medication and I'm still not doing well. So this was in April of 2023. So I'm not feeling good. I decide to go to a cardiologist. That summer, I go to a cardiologist. He does all these tests. I wear a heart monitor. Everything comes back negative. My blood pressure is, like, scary high, and my husband's in the doctor's office with me, and he's like, you have white coat syndrome and high anxiety. I wanted to jump out of the chair at that moment, but I didn't, and I walked out, and I started crying because, again, nobody was listening to me, which I've had happen in the past in my life. So we left trying to figure it out. I was put on metoprolol, which was working for my tachycardia, my high blood pressure, and it was working. And again, I'm trying to be a good patient, trying to do what I'm supposed to do. December comes around, winter break starts, and I'm home alone, and I'm eating cereal for dinner. See? Not the healthiest vegan. And an hour or so later, I start having really bad stomach pains. And my family comes home, and I'm not feeling good, and I'm crying, and I'm on the bed just screaming because my stomach's really hurting. And my husband's like, we need to go to the hospital. And I did not want to go because I knew if I went, I was just gonna be told again, this is nothing. There's nothing wrong with you. He's like, I'm gonna give you an hour. And in an hour, if you're still like this, we're going. So where we live, we have a standalone ER down the street from us. So I finally gave in, and he took me. The nurse and my husband thought it was a gallbladder issue. I mean, I had all the symptoms. They said I was like, fine. Let's take it out. Let's do whatever needs to be done.

[A]

You're like, listen, whatever. All right? Let's start throwing in the trash and see what happens.

[B]

I was, like, willing, whatever. Just do it. I didn't care at that point. So they come back and tell me that I had a small bowel obstruction.

[A]

Okay?

[B]

So I had to be taken by ambulance to the. As I call, the bigger hospital down the street, which was, like, a few miles down. So I'm admitted to the hospital for four days. They do medieval torture to me. Everything fixes itself. They couldn't figure out why I had a small bowel obstruction, and I was sent home.

[A]

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[B]

I had a tube down my nose into my stomach and it was horrible. I don't wish that upon my worst enemy. It was really bad and I was not on metformin or any of my medications in the hospital. My husband said that they were giving me insulin. I don't remember everything, but I do remember them pricking my finger and I was checking my CGM as they were pricking my finger, you know, to compare and this and that, just for fun. And we left the hospital and I get home and, you know, I'm afraid to eat. I start taking my medication. Things are going okay for a few days. It was winter break also. I'm a teacher, so I was on winter break. So I was taking that time to rest and get better. And like I said, I start taking the metformin and genovia and I start getting sick again. I can't keep anything down. I can't keep anything in. I'm feeling really bad. I called the hospital. I need to see a gastro. They would not let me see anybody. I could not get in to see anybody. Every day I was crying. I could barely get to work. When school was back in session, I wasn't working every day or half days. And every day I would call and they're like, we can't get you in. We didn't have a referral when you were admitted, so we can't get you in. Finally, I get a call from some guy who said, hey. So this was like, almost mid January. He goes, I can get you in beginning of February to see a gastro doctor. I was like, great, let me take it. So I just kept saying to myself, if I can make it to February, I'm going to be fine. They'll figure out what's going on. Martin Luther King weekend comes. I'm still not doing good. I wake my husband up in the morning, and I said, look, I need you to take me back to the er. I need fluids and Zofran. I can't keep anything down. I'm very dehydrated still.

[A]

Things are getting backwards. Like, it's getting worse.

[B]

It's getting worse again. It's getting worse. So. And of course, I'm taking my medication. Like, I'm supposed to be taking my medication, okay? So he takes me back to the er. We spent all day in the er. They are throwing every single test at me. Comes back normal, CT scans, ultrasounds, blood tests. The only thing that came back positive or a problem was my lactic acid. It kept rising and rising and rising. And they were giving me bags of fluids constantly, that I had a toilet commode next to my bed because I was constantly peeing. I had, like, four or five bags of fluid over a few hours because they're like, this is what we need to give you to bring your lactic acid down. And they couldn't figure out what was going on. It kept going up. And I was told that the number went up so close to seven.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And my husband heard the doctors in the hallway, you know, very concerned. And they come in and tell us that they're going to have to transfer me back to the big hospital again if we can't get this under control. And all day, my dad and my husband are on, trying to figure out what's going on with me. Putting everything into the deep, dark web. And they come up with lactic acidosis from Metformin. So my husband tells the doctor, and he goes, oh, my gosh, you're on Metformin. And we're like, yeah, it's like right there in my chart. He go. And my husband's like, she has lactic acidosis. So I took the Metformin in the morning, but I didn't take it in the evening. And because it was extended release, it started wearing off. And they took my lactic acid again. And it went down close to normal. And he's like, that's what was going on. So go home. Don't take your medicine. Get in Touch with your doctor. So I had lactic acidosis induced by metformin. So I go home and I get in touch with my endocrinologist, and I go into my endocrinologist and I tell my endocrinologist what's going on. And she's like, okay, well, here's a whole long list of medications you can't go on. And insulin is gonna be it. It's gonna be your safest thing. I was like, let's do it. Let's do insulin. No problem.

[A]

Yeah. How long has this been going on for? At this point, Months.

[B]

So the lactic acidosis was December of 2023.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And so I saw my endocrine. No, the lact. Sorry, back up. The lactic acidosis was January of 2023. And so by February, I was put on insulin.

[A]

From the first time you started not feeling well till this point is how

[B]

long I couldn't tell you because it, like, just slowly crept up.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And again, I blame things on my thyroid.

[A]

So you don't know how long you were blaming the wrong thing?

[B]

Correct.

[A]

And when you said at one point you were in the hospital, you're not sure what they did. Were you on pain meds? Is that why you don't know?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Yeah, I was on. Yeah. I don't even know what they gave me, but they gave me something nice.

[A]

I was gonna say, how'd you enjoy that? Was it good?

[B]

It was nice. I don't know. My husband knows everything that was going on. I mean, he was my rock. He was so good through it. And I don't. I know I was in the hospital for four days. I remember pieces of it, but. Yeah.

[A]

I'm confused, though. Why, through this whole process, if at some point a doctor said, hey, you definitely have type 1 diabetes, and then said, no, you don't. And then you did all this other stuff. Did you ever bring up. Did you know there used to be, like, a time where someone thought I had type 1? Could there have been confusion there? Or does that get out of your mind because somebody's already.

[B]

It kind of sat there like. I still was mulling it over because it. It still didn't make sense. I was trying to be this great diabetic and a good patient, but it still. It did not sit well with me at all.

[A]

Yeah. Because, Sandy, I have to. I'm not gonna call you out. I'm just wanna. I wanna point out. I just wanna point out you said you didn't think you had type 2 diabetes. No, but you're like, head down, doing what they're telling you to do, not feeling well. You never, like, raised your hand and said, hey, maybe I don't have type 2 diabetes. Should we look at that again?

[B]

So throughout my life, I've had health problems that, you know, would kind of run in the gray. Nothing was ever black or white. And so I was gaslit a lot through my life, and so I was afraid that that was gonna happen. So I was like, if I. I'm either gonna prove to myself that I'm a type 2, or I'm gonna prove to them that I'm a type one or die.

[A]

I'll see what I can do. Yeah, that'll show em. Damn it. Then they'll all know they were wrong.

[B]

Exactly. So that's. I mean, I had to prove to somebody, myself or my doctor in the medical community, somebody that somebody was wrong.

[A]

Talk a little more first. Take a left turn here for a second and talk a little more about what that's like, over a lifetime to go, know something's wrong with you, try to explain it to people. Nobody listens.

[B]

It's horrible. It's a horrible feeling. I mean, I have piles of tests and blood work before we had all this technology of things. And I would be told, it's in your head. You have anxiety. You're making it up. We kind of see something like this number may not be right, but it's just right on the cusp. So you're okay? Like, I have always had digestive problems. And I thought I had celiac disease. I thought I had Crohn's. I don't have either. When my son got diagnosed with Crohn's, my husband's like, you have Crohn's? You're gonna go get a colonoscopy again, which I've had one before. He's like, you're gonna get it, Ronan. My son has Crohn's. So you have Crohn's. So I go, I get scoped out. I'm clean. No celiac, no Crohn's, no nothing. Nothing. So I don't know what's going on. You know, why do I have stomach problems? My whole life I'm told, again, it's anxiety, maybe something I'm eating. I was gluten free for 10 years. It didn't work.

[A]

Anybody ever tried to tell you you were depressed?

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

Yeah. Were you?

[B]

Yeah. I don't think I'm a depressed person. But dealing with health problems, you know,

[A]

gets you down everywhere.

[B]

Kind of get down in the dump sometimes, especially when people aren't listening to you. It's very frustrating, of course.

[A]

Tell me about anxiety all your life or.

[B]

Yes, I have anxiety. I've had anxiety all my life. And I know my thyroid plays a good portion of that sometimes if it's not regulated, you know, that also doesn't help. So.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Tough. And the way they treat thyroid, too, it's like, oh, we gave her the pill. That's over now.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. They don't think about it ever again after that.

[B]

Yeah. It's just, take a pill, don't worry about what you're eating, don't worry about your lifestyle, your sleep or anything like that. You're stressed. Take the pill. You're going to be fine.

[A]

It makes you wonder, doesn't it, that how can that. Because that thyroid controls a lot and it does. Right, Right. And I know that. And I make a podcast. You know that. And you were a zookeeper. Why is it my doctor doesn't know that or why isn't they don't treat it more seriously?

[B]

I just don't think they have time, I'm assuming.

[A]

I'm gonna say something, Sandy. It's been stuck in my head for a couple of weeks now. I think I'm about done hearing that doctors can't help me because they don't have time.

[B]

I know.

[A]

I think maybe that's just become a really acceptable excuse that we use.

[B]

It's a scapegoat.

[A]

Yeah. Oh, they'd help me, but they don't have time. Bull. I've sat with doctors that have plenty of time, and they don't come up with anything either.

[B]

I know, I know. Yeah.

[A]

How about I don't know would be a nice answer? Well, you know what I mean.

[B]

That's what I would like. Sometimes I don't want a doctor to play like they know everything. Just tell me that you don't know, and I'm okay with that. Let's move on from there. Find somebody else or figure it out. But you don't have to know everything.

[A]

Yeah. I'm starting a movement right now. No one.

[B]

I will be head of that movement with you.

[A]

No one gets to say, oh, it's not their fault. They don't have time.

[B]

Right, right.

[A]

It's just silly. I took my car to get fixed and my brakes were bad and I crashed into a wall 30 minutes after I left. And they found out the brakes weren't fixed completely. Right. And we went back to the mechanic guy, said, look, it's really busy, and I have time to do it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Would we go? Oh, well, you didn't have time. It's just such a strange thing to say. Like, it almost feels like. It feels like this cascading situation where.

[B]

Well, that. Where I'm living. That's what we're dealing with. The health care system where I'm living is falling apart really fast.

[A]

I don't even. I don't even care if it's assistant. Once you're in the room with somebody that has taken the Hippocratic oath, I don't actually give a shit about the health care system anymore. You're in there with somebody who told me that they're educated and ready to help. I don't know. I just saw. I just had to change doctors because my doctor. Let me just say this. Many of you may have heard her on episode 413. It's. She explains thyroid issues, actually, and she's an endocrinologist, functional medicine doctor. I use her. My daughter uses her. My whole family goes to her.

[B]

Her.

[A]

She amazing. Her husband gets a job with the French government, and they're moving to Paris. And I said to her, please, you've been with him your whole life. It's probably enough. Why don't you get divorced, stay here, be my doctor? Right, right. But no, no, no. She wants to go to Paris and live there. So now she's leaving, and I got to get another doctor. Okay, fair enough. She's got a life. I. I got past that. Then I went out to find another doctor. She helped me locate somebody. I get in there, you know, I got to the meet to meet the guy, and he was fine. But, like, inside of five minutes, I thought, he's not saying anything. He's not asking anything insightful. He's waiting for me to tell him what I think I need. Like, and then I. And then I finally, like, I let him do his thing. And then 10 minutes into it, when I started getting irritated. Like, not irritated externally, but irritated, like, this is. He isn't special. Like, she was. And I went and I said, listen, here's the deal. And I just laid out my health in front of him. I said, here's what I'm gonna need help with. This is what I'm taking right now. Most important thing in the world is I keep getting this GLP medication. After that, I need my iron tested every six months. I might end up asking you to sometimes tell my hematologist that I need an iron infusion. Maybe, maybe not. They've been less, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Here's the vitamins I take. How do I get ahold of you? And boy, when I took over, he sat back, he was all comfortable and happy as could be.

[B]

Doctors don't want you to do that anymore.

[A]

Yeah. Guess what? He was looking for a way out. But if I don't speak up, then he lays out this vanilla plan in front of me. It's about going to get blood. Oh, we'll go send you for blood work. I said I just had blood work. Go look at that blood work. Oh, okay. Did you. Yeah. If I wouldn't have said anything, I'd have been off getting blood work.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I'm like, I don't need blood work. There's blood work right there. Pull it up. Oh, Sometimes Quest won't let me. Here it is. Okay. Awesome. Like, the whole thing feels like that.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

I just. You know what I mean? Like, there's not someone with the courage or the convictions and a little bit of smarts behind it to, like, push. Now, I've also been to great doctors. I'm not saying every doctor is a problem, but when you get to one. A guy sat with me for a half an hour, and if I wouldn't have spoke, he would not have been valuable to me.

[B]

I found a cardiologist like that.

[A]

Yeah. And if I. If I get sick later, do we say, oh, it's. It's not his fault. He didn't have time. He had plenty of time. What he didn't have was thoughts. That's what I'm going to tell you right now. I'm done. I want the. I'm. I'm ready for the computers to take over. Let's go.

[B]

We talk about that.

[A]

Yeah, I'm ready.

[B]

Go back and forth.

[A]

I'm ready. Let's just put, like, an AI model and show charge, and let's see what happens. Could it be worse? Yeah, People. Yeah. Couldn't be worse, could it? What are they gonna do, blow up the planet? Oopsie. We're already on that, Right? Come on. Acting like. Please, I'm done. I want something that can be dispassionately. Think about me and come up with the best possible answer. Put me in a direction. Let me give it a shot. Like, that's all. I'm done with people. That's it. I'm moving. I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go up in the mountains. What do you think of that? I'm getting the hell out of here. All right. I'm sorry, Sandy. I Just know you got the run around. And I hear in your voice, you're an adult, you're in your 50s, and you start talking about your life, with your health and, you know, you sound like a little girl when it happens, when you start talking about like you're hurt and scared. Do you know that? Like, can you hear it in your voice? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's bull. You shouldn't have to feel that way. I'm sorry. We're back to it. Okay. No, no, no. I, I, it's Friday afternoon. I have all kinds of energy, storytelling.

[B]

Like, I, I like all of this. This is fine.

[A]

I'm glad, I'm glad. I'm all upset today. They get you off the metformin? Maybe that's it. I'm sorry. Go from there.

[B]

So I was put on insulin because of what happened with the Metformin. And I was pretty much handed an insulin pen. I met with a nurse to show me how to inject myself with it. And that was it. I was told how much to give myself. No correction, no nothing. I was given nothing. And so I started doing that. And I was really nervous. I didn't really know what I was doing. And so I think that was Nova Law. No, wait, it was the long acting.

[A]

They give you a Lantis they love.

[B]

I don't remember.

[A]

Levemir. Lantis.

[B]

Levemir. It was Levemir. I was put on Levemir. So I was told what to do once a day and we'll go from there. So I do the Levemere and then at some point I go back. I don't remember how much longer. A few weeks after, I guess I go back and she's like, okay, now you need to be put on fast acting insulin for when you eat again. I'm giving this with not a whole lot of direction. Here, here's your carb count. No correction dose at the time. Not even the glucogen, Nothing like, here it is. I have insulin. I really don't know what I'm doing. I'm doing the best that I can. I'm afraid I'm going to go low because I don't know how to treat it.

[A]

I would imagine you're out of your mind. Afraid I was.

[B]

And I wasn't given a whole lot of direction really what to do if I go low or this or that. But I'm doing the insulin. I'm doing the insulin. I keep back to the endocrinologist to go over some things. I had a friend who I found out was Type one. And, like, do you carry this with you? Do you have the glucogen? Do you have this? I'm like, no, glucagon. You need glucagon. Thank you. I knew I wasn't saying it right.

[A]

Don't worry, I've got you someone with no medical training. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good, good. I'm good.

[B]

So he's like, you need to go to your doctor. You need to get this stuff. So I go to my doctor. She's like, oh, yeah, yeah, let me write you a prescription for this. And so I get that, and I'm doing okay, and everything's going all right. And I. I'm on, I think maybe two years. I'm on injectable. And I was like, I really want to go on a pump. Like, I hear about these pumps. I don't know anything about them, but I think it's going to make my life a whole lot easier. I'm handed pamphlets. Choose a pump. Talk with your insurance. Figure it out.

[A]

I'm sure they'd help you if they just had more time, Sandy. Yeah, if there was just more time, I'm sure she'd explain to you. It's not that. The stories I hear that with the doctors go, I don't really know anything about the pumps. That's why I don't talk about them. It's not that. And I'm sure the nurse would have helped you with, you know, counting carbs and understanding your thing, but she just didn't have time. Everybody's very busy, Busy, busy, busy. I walk out in the hall, everyone's leaning on the wall.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

Yeah. Okay. We're all super. Okay, I'm working. I just want to know. I want you all to know that if I'm awake, I'm doing something. Everybody else, get to work. Oh, I'm getting angry. Oh, I'm having such a good time. Zandi, keep talking. Go ahead.

[B]

Okay. No, I just keep getting to brush off exactly what you're saying. So I'm convinced at this point that I have lada. I do this research. I met somebody who has lada. I talk with him, and he's like, that's what it sounds like. And I said, but I don't have the antibodies. And I researched that. It's possible that you can have LADA without antibodies. It's rare, but it could be. I was like, okay, I have lada.

[A]

That's.

[B]

I gave myself this diagnosis because that felt more manageable than type 2 at this point, that wasn't being managed I was like, I have an autoimmune problem. I could deal with another autoimmune problem. I don't want it. But it's here, so I'm going to be okay with this. So I get on a Facebook page about Lada and I word vomit my whole story, everything that happened. And you know how this nothing makes sense, right? And this wonderful person gets on and on my post and she's like, have you ever heard of RADIANT Diabetes?

[A]

Wait, hold on. Radiant Diabetes?

[B]

Radiant Diabetes.

[A]

Good, good.

[B]

So I asked her about it. She said she's part of this study and they research rare and atypical diabetes. And I was like, oh, my gosh. Like, I really want to do this. So I go on their website and I'm thinking, my luck, I'm not gonna get into this study. Cause that's just how it goes for me. Sorry to be a downer, but I fill out the application, I do everything, and within a few weeks I get an email. I got accepted into the study. And I'm like, oh, my gosh. I got accepted. Like, it's rare that people get accepted into the study. I'm told there are people who fight to get into this study. And I was like, I got accepted into this study. I tell my husband and I find

[A]

out, wait, wait, are we talking about the Rare and Atypical Diabetes Network? That's what RADIANT means.

[B]

Okay, okay, yes, yes.

[A]

You get into the study. I'm sorry I cut you off.

[B]

You're fine. It's okay. I can just keep talking and talking and talking.

[A]

Yeah, Sandy, I figured you. I figured you out a little while ago. I know what's going on. Don't worry.

[B]

So I'm emailing this person back and forth and she's like, first we're going to test you for type one, and if that comes back negative, then we're going to go on to stage two and three. I was like, great. So they do their own test. Of course it comes back negative. And she goes, now we're going to draw blood to do a whole genome sequencing and to look for why you have diabetes. And then you have to do an on site visit. So they're located in multiple universities around the United States with doctors and researchers and nurses and stuff like that, where you can go to do your insight visit. So I first go and get my blood drawn for my whole genome sequencing. So this was a year ago, which I still have not gotten back. I was hoping to get it back before this podcast, but I haven't.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

There's a whole thing with that, but it's fine. So I do that. And then in June or, like, May, I'm talking with them, and they're like, okay, we want you to go to one of our inpatient sites around the United States. Where do you live? What does your life look like? And I said, look, I'm a teacher. I'm all for the summer. I can do. Go anywhere you want in the summer. They're like, okay, you're going to go to Chicago. I'm like, great, right? Get on an airplane. I go there in June. I spend a whole day with researchers, a nurse, like all these fabulous people that listen to me. So before I go to Chicago, before I go, I'm researching everything that they test for for diabetes. And I. I mean, there's like hundreds of things, and I'm going back and forth and back and forth and googling and all this stuff, and I come up with mitochondrial disease, and it was like me to a T. And I go to my husband, and I was like, please look at this. I need you to do some research. He loves to research things, and he's good at it. And I said, please research this. Tell me what you think. He comes back to me the next day. He's like, this is you. This is you, to a T. And I. And I said, don't tell anybody. I want to go to my insight visit, and I'm going to talk to them about it. So I spend the whole day, they're running all these tests. I had to drink that sugary drink, the glucola. Couldn't take my insulin. My glucose goes up to 400, and I wasn't able to eat. And then they're about to bring me lunch and help me carb count, and the doctor walks in, and he's helping me carb count, and he's going over my history with me, and we're talking about everything for a while, everything that I went through, everything that happened, and I did not bring up mitochondrial disease. And we're talking, and he goes, I think you have mitochondrial disease. And I looked at him and I said, my husband and I researched this, and we're thinking the same thing.

[A]

I would have had it written on a piece of paper in my pocket so I could have pulled it out and been like, ha. Was way ahead of you. But, no, that's awesome. Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

So I actually have to back up. I totally forgot something.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Really important. So when I got diagnosed with diabetes, after I got diagnosed, my family kept telling me that I was not hearing them. I was not hearing things. And for a while, I was in denial. I was not listening to them.

[A]

Wait, what's that? I can't. What's that?

[B]

That

[A]

you're awesome.

[B]

So I tell my endocrinologist, there's an audiologist across the hallway. She goes, if you want to see an audiologist, I'll send you. Normally, I don't send patients until they're older, but if you want to see an audiologist, go ahead. I go see an audiologist. Lo and behold, I'm losing my hearing. Oh, and I had to get hearing aids. Where is that coming from?

[A]

I don't know.

[B]

Go to rock bands. I don't work around loud noises. Right. Okay, so back to when I was in Chicago and I'm talking to them about it. So I was clinically diagnosed with what's called maternal inherited deafness and diabetes, where it's a mitochondrial disease that affects my pancreas and my hearing and could affect some other organs in my body, but nothing else seems to be affected. But those are my two main things. And if you have mitochondrial disease, you can't take metformin because it will cause lactic acidosis.

[A]

God damn. You figured it out. Out.

[B]

Figured it out.

[A]

That's pretty exciting, isn't it? You probably were like. You probably felt like you won the lottery or the. Or the Olympics or something. Like, put me up. Yeah. Look at you.

[B]

I. I was so happy. I don't want to be sick. I don't want to have a diagnosis. I'm not sick. I take that back. I don't want to have a problem.

[A]

Right, sure.

[B]

But I do. It's here. And I got an answer.

[A]

You want less than not have an answer about something that you have a problem with. Like, you know, I say all the time, I was like, look, nobody wants this, but if we have it, at least a good plan is a good plan.

[B]

Yes, yes.

[A]

And it does make you feel crazy.

[B]

Oh, I. For everything that I've dealt with in my life, I finally felt validated. You know, when you look at everything that I've dealt with, I'm like, that's mitochondrial disease. That's mitochondrial disease. That's mitochondrial disease. So, like, short stature. I'm short. I'm five feet. My parents are not short. You know, there are just certain things that I have that doesn't run in my family.

[A]

Okay. Wow. That's really. That's astonishing. You figured that all out. Hey, can I ask real quickly?

[B]

Yes, yes.

[A]

Have the advancements of, like, did AI help your Husband through this. Like, was it a thing you couldn't Google in the past and figure out, but you were able to figure out because. Just because computing's different right now, the Internet's more connected or et cetera.

[B]

He. Yes, he was. So my husband uses chat GPT and all that stuff. Like I said when we first talked, like, I'm not really into technology, but he likes to. Yeah, yeah, like to use all that technology and stuff to help him come to solutions or whatever, you know, whatever research he's doing. Yeah.

[A]

I have to tell you, if it wasn't for AI and I don't know. Adelic, do you listen to the podcast, like, religiously? Because if not, you're not going to know this.

[B]

I do. I listen to you every morning in my classroom.

[A]

Oh, okay. Well, then you'll get the context here. And everybody else doesn't listen every day. We'll figure it out. But I would have never got my butthole fixed if it wasn't for AI.

[B]

I listen to that.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I Googled that living crap out of that for years and nothing happened. And then one day I just said, the chat GPT. I said, hey, I think I got. I need help. And. And it, in a split second was like, have you tried this? And I was like, no. I'm like, wait, where'd you find out about that? And then it was just like, oh. I said, where can I get that done? The doctor's, like, seven miles from my house. I was so pissed. I was like, are you kidding me? But no. No matter how many times I googled it and all the different ways I thought to Google it, I came up with it's.

[B]

It's chatgpt that works.

[A]

I came up with the, like, I think probably the more common answers. And then I. I asked ChatGPT or whatever. I don't know if it was Jim. I don't remember anymore. And it gave me all the common answers, too. And I was able to respond to it and say, no, those are all the common answers. Those don't work for me. Is there nothing else? And then it just went, yeah, there's this.

[B]

It spits it out. Yeah. I'm becoming braver with ChatGPT. My husband's teaching me, and I'm becoming braver with my diabetes because I still am navigating it. It by myself and your podcast. Thank you.

[A]

Oh, sure.

[B]

And other people that I've talked to, and it really has helped me, like, with bolusing or how I'm feeling or my Numbers or.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

Like if I'm having anxiety about something and I've put it into chat GPT, you know, it kind of helps me figure things out. So I'm. I'm getting braver with it and it has helped.

[A]

So let me say this, and I'm sure there's some people don't want to hear about this, but I'm going to tell you that I think that there's like. Like in the next 24 months, you're going to see the models are all going to leap again, and then they're going to wait a minute for the new chips to come out. And then once the new chips come out for the computers that power all this stuff, I think you see the models take another leap again. I think they're going to be astonishingly better by the end of 2026, maybe sooner. And then the beginning, the middle of 2027, I think it's over at that point. Point.

[B]

We've had our own conversations over here about that.

[A]

Yeah. I'm fairly comfortable telling you at some point you're just going to throw your graphs into a thing and be like, hey, how do I bolus for this? And it's just going to tell you, how long is it before. I mean, there's a bunch of do it yourself, you know, algorithms, there's loop and trio and Android aps, blah, blah. I mean, there's got to be some. Yeah, some people have, I mean, got to have dropped that code into this already and said, like, like, you know, can we make this? I'm sure the people developing it are probably doing that. How do we make this better? How do we make it work? Like, you know, like, I don't know. I think you're real close to it. Like, you know, I'm.

[B]

I'm hoping. I mean, I need all the help that I can get. I finally did get on a pump, and I think everybody should be on a pump. I don't understand why everybody isn't. I love it and it's helped me,

[A]

so I'm glad it's helped.

[B]

But the whole d. The looping and do it yourself and all that is way above me right now. Like, I can't even bring myself to that point at the moment. So maybe in the future.

[A]

Sandy, let me, Let me just say this. There are people who can't afford pumps. They don't have insurance that'll cover them.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Some people are really scared of the idea that algorithms shut basil off. And they want to always. They always want to have a Background insulin in them. And there's. I mean, there's reasons, you know what I mean? Like, some people don't like stuff hanging on them. There's. But I take your point.

[B]

I get.

[A]

Yeah, they're incredibly valuable.

[B]

I. I get.

[A]

Yeah, I get diabetes. Tomorrow I'm getting an insulin pump. I just want you to know I

[B]

just haven't talked to many people on a pump pump. So I don't, like, really get a whole lot of feedback. Like, I know two people with type 1 diabetes on different pumps and they love them. And so. But I don't. I haven't had, like, a whole lot of connection with people, so. And I know everybody has their own opinion. For me, it was the best thing that I did. It's worth every penny that I sink into it every month.

[A]

Well, I'm glad. I'm glad for you that it's valuable and you found a way to do it and everything.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Tell me more about mitochondrial disease. Like, what did you. What have you learned since then, then?

[B]

So I'm learning very slowly that pretty much you treat symptomatically. So like I said, I did not get my whole genome sequencing test back, so I don't have anything on paper yet. This is from a doctor through Radiant Diabetes, and I know that I fit that diagnosis. It all makes sense. So I am going with that. I'm hoping in the next few months I have everything on paper and then I can find somebody to help me. But. But from what I'm learning reading and on ChatGPT, you treat symptomatically. So I'm on insulin. I'm wearing hearing aids. If any other functions start failing, then I go see that kind of doctor, that ologist, and have them help me through whatever is helping, like if it's a cardiologist or a urologist or whatever. So there is like, muscle issues and things that I know that I'm starting to deal with, but I can't find help right now for that because I don't have things on paper because once again, we're dealing with doctors not having time. And especially if you don't have something in front of you to hand them, it doesn't exist. So.

[A]

So they're waiting for you to tell you what's wrong with you, too, I guess.

[B]

I mean, I've gone to doctors and I said, hey, I have this clinical diagnosis. This is what's going on with me. Well, you look fine, so you're okay. So we're not going to help you. We can't help you. You're treating your diabetes, you're treating your hearing loss and whatever else is going on.

[A]

What else do you have going on? So you're short statured, your hearing's an issue. What else do you think is impacting diabetes?

[B]

I have small hands, small feet, which also go along with it. Digestive issues. I've had digestive issues my whole entire life. Also, learning disabilities can be part of mitochondrial disease, which I do have a learning disability. Not. Not a severe learning disability, but. So, yeah, things like that. Muscle pain, joint pain.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

Things that I've. That, that I've dealt with.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. My gosh. Oh, through your whole life, too?

[B]

Yeah. I mean, not. Nothing's been severe. Like I said at the beginning, you know, everything's kind of been in the gray, you know, And I. I live, I work, I. I do my life, but it's been in the gray, you know, and as I get older, my body's starting to punk out because it's not getting enough energy because of mitochondrial disease. So certain things are just starting not to work properly now. That's what I was told. This type of mitochondrial disease does hit between 30 and 50. And so I started really getting major symptoms in my 40s with the hearing loss and diabetes.

[A]

Okay, does anyone mention Wolframs to you?

[B]

No.

[A]

Does that come up? No. Okay. No, I'm just. I'm trying to. I don't. I don't know a ton about this, so I'm trying to, like, pick through it as well.

[B]

No, no, no.

[A]

I've had a person on who has that. That's just what I was asking.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, I've read about it, you know, I mean.

[A]

But yeah, how can it bring on type one, though?

[B]

So I guess my pancreas is not getting enough energy to produce. What is it, the beta cells? I don't know. I'm probably not using proper terminology. Really know what I'm talking about. I'm going to be honest, I'm still learning, but my pancreas just isn't doing what it should be doing because it's not getting energy to do it.

[A]

Okay, so I'm going to tell you. I'm going to tell you.

[B]

It doesn't sound right.

[A]

No, no, no, no. Well, what. What I have here is that it says maybe a cleaner way to think about it is that mitochondrial disease can cause a different kind of diabetes that can look like type one because the pancreas stops making enough insulin in mitochondrial diabetes. The problem is often that damaged mitochondrial diabetes in mitochondria in the beta cells cannot make or release insulin normally. The insulin shortage can make someone look insulin dependent and they may even be mistaken for type one at first. Classic type one diabetes is different. Of course. We know how type one works.

[B]

Right.

[A]

So mitochondrial diabetes. Insulin production fails because the cell's energy machinery is impaired. There's some research showing that mitochondrial dysfunction is involved in the biology of type 1 diabetes, especially in beta cell stress and injury during autoimmune inflammation. But that is not the same as saying you have mitochondrial disease by itself.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Causes classic autoimmune type 1. The stronger clinical point is that mitochondrial disease more often causes a non autoimmune diabetes subtype that can be misdiagnosed as type one or type two. Jeez.

[B]

So that's what happened to me. That's why I was misdiagnosed as type 2.

[A]

What a role. But treat it like a type 1 because it works that way.

[B]

Thank you for bringing that up.

[A]

No, no, no, no, no.

[B]

I could hear saying all that. I appreciate that. Because one of the things I want to do is when somebody like me walks into a doctor's office, I want doctors to have information to be able to look more into what this person is dealing with. And that's what Radiant Diabetes is doing.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

They're trying to get information out to doctors so that when somebody like me walks into their office and they are not present type one or type two, and they're just presenting all weird and not even modi, because I got tested for MODI and that came back negative. What else could it be? And so they test for all sorts of things.

[A]

Yeah. The mitochondrial issue is not just magically making you type one, it's giving you diabetes. That mimics type one. Correct. In a different way. So it just says here that a doctor will look at autoantibodies. C peptide family history.

[B]

Peptides have been fine. They've gone. Gone to low normal to reg, you know, and a little bit above. So it. My pancreas is working, so. Yeah, exactly.

[A]

Well, I mean, you have an incredibly rare thing inside of a already rather rare thing. Not a ton of people on the planet with type 1 diabetes and, you know, not. Not based on the. The overall population at least. Wow. And is there anything they can do for the mitochondrial issues? Can they treat it?

[B]

Anyway, so I'm told. Or what I've read is that there's like what's called mito cocktails with different supplements with CoQ10 being number one thing to take and then depending on what kind of Mitochondrial disease you have and what kind of deficit you might have, doctors will come up with these cocktails that may or may not help. Some people say that they help, some people say that they don't. And they have to readjust with L, arginine and some other supplements that they could take. So it's a cocktail. I've tried to start taking CoQ10 and a few things myself. But again, I don't know what would be the right thing for me to take and in what amount. And how is it interacting with other things that I'm on. Hoping at some point to find some guidance of somebody to be like, okay, yes, you have mitochondrial disease. Let's come up with a cocktail for you to see if that will help you feel better.

[A]

Are you having any luck finding a doctor that specializes in this?

[B]

No. So there are a few doctors around the United States that do specialize in mitochondrial disease. I really have not reached out to, to any of them yet because I don't have my whole genome sequencing in front of me, which I've even said, you know, let's start from the ground up and you know, do different testing, whatever. I did try to get into a hospital here close to where I live, and they said no.

[A]

So I was like, okay, why they say no?

[B]

Because I'm just not weird enough. They didn't have enough information. I was not cool enough, I don't know, to join their club. I don't know.

[A]

I don't think that was it. Imagine if they were like, we would. But you're not quite cool enough.

[B]

You're not quite cool enough, are you?

[A]

I mean, obviously you're, you're very much paying attention to this. So you're worried about further problems in the future. You worried about your heart, about seizures, things like that that could come from all this?

[B]

No, I don't, I'm trying not to. So I know that seizures and strokes could be something in the future. So I have what's called mid maternal inherited deafness and diabetes. And there's like a scale where at the other end of the scale is me loss, where that's where the stroke and seizures can possibly start happening. Doesn't always happen, doesn't always go that route. So I'm not trying to think that far right now. I'm thinking like I'm doing okay. I did find an excellent cardiologist that has done a workup on me. My heart is doing great, so I just have high blood pressure. So he's working on that with me. But just everything else I'm just taking it step by step and in stride.

[A]

Yeah. How about in your family line? Are there any women on your family line who have had these sorts of issues that in the past nobody would have been able to figure out?

[B]

Not that I know of. It's possible, but there's no documentation, and I haven't heard of that. So it is passed down through mother, maternal through the mother. So every kid gets it, but then it stops at. At the son, but the daughter can pass it on. And then everybody has their own variation, whether they have symptoms or not of it, from what I've read. So, like, I have a sister. I don't think she has symptoms of it.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

I think she's fine. Like, I've given her the information, but I don't think she's dealing with what I'm dealing with. My mom, I looked at Back to my mom when I was growing up. I think my mom dealt with some of the stuff that I'm dealing with, and she was never diagnosed.

[A]

Sure. Is she alive still?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Okay, listen, I am not a doctor. I think it's pretty obvious if you listen to the podcast, and I'm certainly not giving you advice, but you could go to our overlords, ask what isn't a common mito cocktail, and then ask how you might decide what the dosages of those things should be. And it's possible that I've done that. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. I'm just so afraid right now, especially with what's happened to me, but I have done that. And I had chatgpt put me out of schedule. But also some of my. I hate saying medications. Like, I feel like I'm on all these medications have changed and are kind of changing and adjusting, that I'm afraid to add anything else into things until something's calmed down. So. But I have done that. So that's where my husband made me brave.

[A]

Good. Good. I'm glad. Yeah. It's funny because when you're talking. So when we first started, before we started to record, you said, I'm kind of nervous. Are you still nervous?

[B]

Yes. No, not anymore.

[A]

And you're very boisterous, and you're very willing to tell your story, but then privately and personally, you get. You're scared to do things.

[B]

Sometimes I am, because I've been through a lot the past six years, and I'm afraid of something bad happening again. And since I don't have medical guidance, really, like, I wouldn't even know who to go to if something happened or what to do. So I'm just trying to. To do what I know what to do, take care of what I know what to take care of and how to take care of it. And then I'm waiting for things to slowly. I'm not waiting, but things are just slowly unfolding and unraveling for me. And I just, you know, it's been six years since everything has started, so it's just going to be a longer journey and I have to be okay with that.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, listen, I don't. Again, apropos nothing. I. And I barely got through high school. It's very important to remember all this. Like, I don't. There's nothing crazy in this cocktail.

[B]

Oh, you're reading it.

[A]

Yeah, of course. Riboflavin, creatine, alpha lip, lipic acid, vitamin C, vitamin A, other antioxidants.

[B]

It's like I have to, like, I put so much energy into going to a doctor or finding a doctor, dealing with something, and then, you know, it's a lot. So then I have to take a few steps back. And that includes your podcast. Like, I really wanted to come on and talk to you about this because I want to get information out to other people, but it took me time to be like, okay, I'm going to reach out to him so that I can get on the podcast and I can talk about what I'm going through and dealing with so that other people can hear it and hopefully I can hear other people. But it's like I could take three steps forward, then I have to take two steps back. So it's like I can't do everything all at once because I'm dealing with a lot of different things.

[A]

Yeah, no, well, having said that, pure encapsulation makes a mitochondrial support vitamin.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I mean, you know, what the hell, I'd pop a couple in and see what happens.

[B]

I mean, I just might, once I get off with you, I might feel so energized and be like, you know what? I'm going to feel brave now and I'm going to do this now.

[A]

Listen, I'll read it right off the back. Vitamin C, vitamin E, thiamine, riboflavin, which is vitamin B2, magnesium, as magnesium citrate and malate. Geez. Nicotinamide, riboside chloride. Don't know what that is. Creatine monohydrate, acetyl L, carotene, trans reversal, knotweed. You know, I mean, cysteine lipoic acid, coenzyme Q10.

[B]

I mean, that's the Turkey 10. Yeah.

[A]

I mean, Listen, what are we doing here? You have a ton of problems. If this thing does you in, just call it. It was gonna happen anyway, you know what I mean?

[B]

But, like, I mean, I could get to that point. Like, let's just do it, you know?

[A]

I mean, honestly, like, just do it. Yeah, I mean, I. I mean, if a vitamin. Listen, you have a lot of problems if the vitamin kills you. You were one way or the other.

[B]

Like, so it's kind of a. I mean, you gotta look at it that way, right?

[A]

I swear to God. Done.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

If this vitamin puts you under, you were on your way anyway. Okay? Just let it be. What do you argue with the world for? Let me see something. Listen, it's Amazon, right? But. But, but reviews are from people using it are. Are pretty solid.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, one person said it didn't work for them out of the first 10 reviews, I can't tell any difference. After three weeks, that person said, everybody else is like, my practitioner recommended this. It's a good energy source. I have more energy. Gives me more energy. Interesting and quality formulation, you know? I don't mean they're just people's reviews. I don't know. It could be, you know, could be bots. I have no idea.

[B]

It could be chat bots making the reviews.

[A]

But again, but Pure's a really reputable company. And I mean, and these are expensive. They're like $82 for 120 capsules. That's pretty pricey. You know what I mean?

[B]

Just throw that into the pot with everything else.

[A]

But listen, how many are you supposed to take a day? Let's look here.

[B]

I don't know.

[A]

Well, I. Two capsules a day, it says. So you get 60 days worth of a shot at it for $82. If you feel better, God bless.

[B]

And if you don't, I mean, honestly, like, I. You know, my pump is worth everything that I'm paying every month. So, like, if that was to make me feel better, you know, honestly, what are we.

[A]

It's like a thousand nine hundred a year, maybe. And if it helped, then, then. Right on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Listen, I. I'm. I'll try anything, you know, like, just. Just to see what's up. God, I shouldn't say this year just because if it's. Whatever. Arden's boyfriend was over recently. I was like, are you taking vitamins? And he goes, no. And I'm like, what is wrong with you? And I threw. I threw because he's talking about how he feels. And I like. And I. And I. And I threw a bottle of vitamins out. I said, those are on me. Take two every day. I see you taking vitamin D. No. I said, look at how pale you are. Take vitamin D. I gave it to him because I'm what they call a mensch. I don't know if you know the word. Yes, Sandy. Actually, I know you know the word. Don't worry about it. I can tell. So. And, yeah, he's had them for three, four weeks now. He came over the other night. I said, how you feeling? He goes, you know, Mr. Banner, I have a lot more energy. I do feel better. And I was like, oh. Then I looked at Arden, who won't take the vitamins I give her, and I was like. And she looked at me like. And I. She didn't say this out loud, but I think the look on her face said, leave me the fuck alone. And so. And I was like. I was like, whatever. I just laughed and I went about my business.

[B]

Business.

[A]

But listen, in the end, your body needs certain building blocks every day.

[B]

Yes, exactly.

[A]

And we all certainly don't eat in a way that's going to provide them all. And there's already a ton of other issues. I don't see the problem with throwing them in there just to see if they help, like, you know what I mean? Like, it's not going to hurt. You ate an Oreo. Like, I imagine, like, you eat. You said you ate an Oreo?

[B]

Yeah. I mean, I'm not exactly. Yeah.

[A]

But the vitamins, scary. You know what I mean?

[B]

I know. He thinks in that Oreo almost my whole life.

[A]

So you also have mitochondrial disease.

[B]

Yeah, I. I know.

[A]

You're five feet tall. That's very short, by the way.

[B]

It is. It is very short.

[A]

I. Arden, one of Hardin's friends, is like, five feet tall. Every time she walks. I've known her for 20 years. Every time she walks in the house, I think, God, that kid's short.

[B]

I am. And I teach four and five year olds, so it's like I kind of blend in really well.

[A]

You ever feel like these kids could kick my ass if they wanted? Artist said to me the other day, she goes, hey, let's take some online quizzes. And I went, okay. And then one of them. And now they're not even quizzes. They're just like, hey, what do you think? This or that kind of stuff. Would you rather bees live in your. Whatever, like, that kind of thing? And she says to me, he said, here's one. She goes, how many small children do you think you could beat up.

[B]

Oh, gosh.

[A]

And I. And I go, how big are they? And she, she says, it doesn't say. I'm like, well, that's an important thing here.

[B]

It is an important.

[A]

So she picks through, through, and she goes, oh, everybody in here is like, how. How old are they first? And. And she's like, why, what do you think? I said, well, I think of a certain age, I could beat them all up, like. But I was like, you know, like I said once, I think they get into 10, 11, 12, they could probably gang tackle you. You know, they get.

[B]

I mean, that's when the hormones start hitting, you know, like fourth grade and. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. I even think maybe enough eight or nine year olds could get a hold of your legs, put you on the ground. But, I mean, you send a horde of five year olds at me, I think I could come up, you know what I mean? Like. Like pretty good. They're little and they don't have a lot of dexterity. You probably just pop them in the head. They go over like I would imagine, you know, like bowling pins. So, I mean, I've never hit a child, so I don't know exactly what happens, but you gotta figure it can't be difficult. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So anyway. All right. Is there anything we haven't talked about that we should have? Sandy? Anything I left out?

[B]

No, no. I mean, I. Yeah, I mean, I talked about the mitochondrial disease and. And my diabetes. I think I've hit everything.

[A]

Thyroid, diabetes, mitochondria. A little bit of fun in there. I got the whole thing in an hour like it was nothing. I'm a pro.

[B]

You are wondering how, like, how do you get it all in an hour? Like, I felt like there was so much to talk about.

[A]

Just gotta know when to pivot, that's all. Yeah, like, you know, people aren't gonna know this, but you had trouble getting on. Like, now I'm realizing it was probably part of your. Your hearing aids were probably part of the problem when you were first trying to get going. Right. Were they connected to the wrong thing or something? Something.

[B]

I don't know. I'm gonna. I could not tell you. I don't know. Like I said, technology and me just don't jive. And I just.

[A]

I got to hear Sandy upset before we were doing it. She sounded like Fred Munster when he gets pissed. I don't know. That's a. There's a reference nobody's gonna get. And then you said, you're a little nervous. And I never said to you the Thing that I would have loved to have said to you back then, which is, I think the podcast is great because people like you, who don't even have a microphone and would never normally do something like this are willing to come on and say, hey, I don't know exactly. But here's what's been happening to me. I think that's way more valuable than someone coming on and spitting out some knowledge that they have that they say over and over again every time somebody points a camera at them or a microphone at them. So I think it's really valuable, and I appreciate it.

[B]

Well, I appreciate you letting me come on. I didn't know, like, what your schedule is like or anything. And, you know, like I said, I wanted to come on because I want to pass along this information to anybody else that might be dealing with what I'm dealing with, and maybe it'll give them an epiphany. Maybe they can, you know, look into Radiant Diabetes, get some answers, and then maybe if somebody out there has any

[A]

answers for me, yeah, they can reach back to you. Listen, first of all, I record every day. Not to say schedule's a bear, but it. It's very manageable as I am an adult and I live in a warm and cool home, depending on the year, and I have electricity. So I'm okay. I can make a podcast. I just think that these conversations are really valuable. And I think that especially with the way things are going now. Now, I almost see some of these conversations as blog posts in as much as that if I asked you to sit down and write this all out, I don't even know if you would have thought to.

[B]

I heard you talking about this before.

[A]

Yeah, It's a collection of information from your perspective. It goes on the Internet, and all these AI models are. All they're doing is scraping the Internet. So let it find you're not right about everything, but you are right that this is your experience. So let people's experiences pile up in some sort of data. Right? Record. Maybe it'll help us one day.

[B]

I do have a question for you on the side. So I saw, like, you were building, I guess, in your basement, a room, like, for your podcast, and you were talking about a reptile room.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Is this real?

[A]

Well, it's not a whole room. Let's try not to make me sound crazy, Sandy. Okay. But no, no, I know you love them, probably because of your job.

[B]

I do. I have reptiles. So that's why I read that one for real.

[A]

What do you have? We have to make this quicker. Rob's going to yell at me that I went too long.

[B]

We have, I think three or four snakes and I have a bearded dragon right now.

[A]

What kind of snakes are they? Colubrids. Are they. What do you have?

[B]

I think a rosy boa, Mexican Black King. And I don't remember the other snakes.

[A]

Mexican Black Kings. They're fat, right? They get big?

[B]

No, not fat. Long.

[A]

Long, six, seven feet?

[B]

Yeah, yeah. They belong to my husband and my kids, but we've had lots of reptiles. So when I, when I saw that, I got really excited.

[A]

Well, I'll tell you what I. Listen, I'll tell you what I have, but tell me first about owning a be. Bearded dragons. People who have bearded dragons love them.

[B]

They're so easy. I had. It's my classroom pet right now. We've had bearded dragons before. They're super, super easy.

[A]

Okay. Yeah. And is yours friendly, handleable?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Sits on your shoulder, that kind of thing?

[B]

Yes. I take her out for the kids to touch and stuff. Yeah, yeah.

[A]

How does the poop. Not too bad smelling or is okay.

[B]

Not bad at all.

[A]

Good, good, good. All right, here's what I have. Prepare to be impressed. I have a male Parsons Camille Million.

[B]

Nice.

[A]

He's about 3 years old. He's probably not quite full size, but he's probably. Tip of his nose, tip of his tail. He's about two feet long.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I forget. I haven't weighed him yet this year. He's been. He's not. He doesn't brumate, but he's been a little slow over the winter. He really. He kind of picked a corner of the enclosure. Just hung out for a couple of months. I recently got a yellow tree monitor.

[B]

Wow. Okay. I am. I'm getting impressed.

[A]

She's very cool. I'm still. She almost tolerates me now, which is like, nice. I have actually, I'll tell you this because you'll find this interesting. The Parsons chameleon is bred by one of maybe a handful of people in the whole country that breed them. That man's daughter who has type 1 diabetes. I have a blue Ambanja panther chameleon from Fram's cams and they have a connection to type one as well.

[B]

Oh, wow.

[A]

This is not something I knew before I bought it from him. He is. Is beautiful, but he's so dumb. It's just like he has been over top of a cup of crickets for four hours looking at them like, just eat one. Like, what do you. It's like you with the Vitamins. I don't know what he's waiting for. Just eat the damn cricket. He won't. He'll stare at it for hours. Then finally he'll be like, okay, fine, he'll eat.

[B]

Beardy's afraid of cricket. She'll go to the other side of the tank. So I only give her worms and stuff like that. Because if I put biscuits and she goes to a corner.

[A]

She's an adult. She eats vegetables too, and all that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then I have. Oh, God. I have a small colony of Tachydromus smus. They're Japanese grass lizards.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I have a male and female Sri Lankan pygmy lizard. So they're these little tiny, very. If you Google them, they're very pretty, very cool. Ornate, really. And they breed. I actually just took two babies back to the breeder who I got them from. From. He's a friend and I. I give them to him and he, you know, he sells them again. I just. Like that.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, I don't. I don't even ask him for money. I'm just like, here, just take them. Meanwhile, they're like 600 bucks a piece. I should probably ask him. You know, they're endangered and I know I'm not doing anything to repopulate the world with them, but it makes me feel good when she has the babies and I pass them back out to people. The tree monitor is just wicked. Like, that was that.

[B]

Monitors are all awesome. I like them.

[A]

My goal would be that in the next two years, maybe she'll willingly go onto my forearm. They are not something you're trying to handle or anything like that.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Right.

[A]

The Parsons doesn't want you anywhere near him.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

He is majestic. Like, it. It's hard to. I. I wouldn't know what to do if you told me just to keep one because the. The grass lizards are incredibly entertaining.

[B]

Meaning you have a nice collection. It is impressive.

[A]

I have an eclectic collection of lizards.

[B]

Yeah, we've had more. Just since the kids have gotten older and life and stuff, our population of animals have dwindled a little bit. But, yeah.

[A]

Yeah, I'm gonna be looking for a local kid to come by and feed them for me at some point because I'm gonna lose my. My. My feeder is going to go off to grad school and then I'm gonna need to figure out something else for

[B]

when I go home. There'll be somebody around who would do it and wouldn't love it.

[A]

It's nobody in this house. I'LL tell you that that much these kids hate these bugs, so. And I'll.

[B]

I'll.

[A]

I'll finish embarrassing myself and impressing you by telling you that I. I am. I keep a pretty impressive Dubia roach colony that I've been. I've had going for like a year and a half. I'm pretty.

[B]

That is pretty cool.

[A]

Impressed with myself. But, yeah, there's a box of roaches in here. Nobody. Try not to think about it. That's what I do. And that's what most of these just like.

[B]

People who keep rodents and stuff like that and breed them for their snakes and whatnot. Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

You have to. I have to tell you, snakes don't entreat. Interests me.

[B]

My husband loves snakes. That's, like, his passion. He loves snakes, knows all about snakes.

[A]

Yeah. I will tell you, though, that since I've gotten the monitor, I understand people with snakes better because she is basically a snake with four legs when I look at her. You know what I mean?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The Parsons sits around. It's fine. I don't care. Because he is it. There's something about. He is majestic. Like, it's the only way I can really put it to you. Like, yeah, like, I. If he didn't move, I would care. But watching the monitor run around and the grass lizards do the same thing. The grass lizards are actually lacertas. They're not. That probably just put me into a different dork.

[B]

Look those up. They look pretty. They sound pretty interesting.

[A]

Might have put me into a different dork level saying lacertas just now, but.

[B]

No, I know what you're saying. So, yeah, I'm on the same level.

[A]

And I'll tell you, this summer, I'm actually planning on making a limited podcast series with the keeper who breeds a lot of this stuff, because he'd be cool. Yeah, it'll be. It's not for me. It'll be on his own podcast, but I'm. I actually think I'm gonna host it and. And record it for him because I think his knowledge should be out in the world the way. He's really something. Yeah. So I'm gonna try to help him with that. Anyway, let me get off before poor Rob pulls all of his hair up. You are awesome. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

[B]

I hope it all sounded good. Good.

[A]

It sounds awesome. You sound terrific.

[B]

Thank you. Absolutely.

[A]

All right, hold on one second for me.

[B]

Okay. Yes.

[A]

Head now to tandem diabetes.com juicebox and check out today's sponsor, Tandem Diabetes Care. I think you're going to find exactly what you're looking for at that link, including a way to sign up and get started with the Tandem Mobi System System. A huge thanks to usmed for sponsoring this episode of the Juice box podcast. Don't forget usmed.com juicebox this is where we get our diabetes supplies from. You can as well use the Link or call 888-721-1514. Use the link or call the number get your free benefits check so that you can start getting your diabetes supplies the way we we do from US Med. The podcast episode that you just enjoyed was sponsored by Eversense CGM. They make the Ever Sense 365 that thing lasts a whole year. One insertion every year? Come on. You probably feel like I'm messing with you, but I'm not. Eversense cgm.com juicebox thank you so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of the Juice Box Podcast. If you're not already subscribed or following the podcast in your favorite audio app like Spotify or Apple Podcasts, please do that now. Seriously, just to hit follow or subscribe will really help the show. If you go a little further in Apple Podcasts and set it up so that it downloads all new episodes, I'll be your best friend. And if you leave a five star review, ooh, I'll probably send you a Christmas card. 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 juicebox 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. The Juice Box Podcast has been in production since January of 2015 and in that time we have amassed just a fantastic catalog of information for you. The Defining Diabetes Series Also Bold Beginnings Diabetes Pro Tips Small Sips Fat and Protein Algorithm Pumping Mental Wellness Ask Scott and Jenny Diabetes Variables Defining Thyroid After Dark The Math Behind Omnipod 5 Pregnancy How We Eat Grand Rounds Cold Win GLP Meds the Quick Start Guide if you want to get going with the podcast but you don't know where to go. Diabetes Myths there's even a type 2 diabetes pro tip series. All of this [e-mail] go to the menu, click on Series and they can all be found right there. If you go to juiceboxpodcast.com listen lists. You'll get all these great downloadable lists of all the different series so you can save them on your phone, keep them for later. Every episode is listed along with its episode number. So you can go into Apple Podcasts or your, you know, wherever you listen to your audio and say you want to hear episode 1469, steal a 1C overnight from the Small Sip series. You just go to the search bar, type juice box, one word, and then the episode number 1469. It should be the first return you get. Hey, what's up, everybody? If you've noticed that the podcast sounds better and you're thinking, like, how does that happen? What you're hearing is Rob at Wrongway Recording doing his magic to these files. So if you want him to do his magic to you, wrongway recording.com, you got a podcast, you want somebody to edit it. You want Rob.