What I Wish I Knew ♫

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Juicebox Podcast: Type 1 Diabetes

Episode: What I Wish I Knew ♫
Host: Scott Benner
Date: June 13, 2026
Theme: Obtaining and sharing strategies for living boldly with type 1 diabetes—what patients and supporters wish they knew sooner.

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Episode Overview

This poetic and lyrical episode creates a mosaic of voices—newly diagnosed patients, experienced diabetics, mentors, advisors, and supporters—to convey wisdom discovered on the diabetes journey. The episode’s core message is about passing down hard-earned lessons to help others skip avoidable struggles and reduce fear. With a blend of emotion, metaphor, and encouragement, listeners are invited to start their path with the guidance of those who’ve gone before.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The First Night Home with Diabetes

• Emotionally charged uncertainty: The episode opens with the visceral anxiety of a new diagnosis:
  • "The first night home is quiet, but not the peaceful kind. Papers on the counter, new numbers in your mind." (00:11–00:14)
• Overwhelm and isolation:
  • "The fridge hum sounds louder, the clock won't let you sleep and every word they gave you feels too sharp to keep." (00:23)
• Yearning for direction:
  • "You're staring at the kitchen like the walls might tell the truth, asking no one in particular, what am I supposed to do?" (00:40)

2. The Power of Shared Experience

• Multiple voices offering wisdom: The episode’s structure is call-and-response—seasoned patients and supporters comfort the newly diagnosed with insights they wish they'd known:
  • "Everybody's got a sentence they wish it found them soon." (00:51)
• Passing down knowledge as kindness:
  • "What I wish I knew, I've given it to you." (00:56, 02:06)
  • "The thing I learned the hard way doesn't have to be your first bruise." (01:02, 02:13, 03:26)

3. Specific Challenges and Hurdles

• List of challenges a new diabetic faces:
  • "80 pages on the table of somebody should have said about insulin..." (01:14)
  • "About honeymoon weather coming in and out of you." (01:32)
  • "About school on Monday morning and fear walking in with you." (01:37)
  • "About food that does one thing then another thing at 3..." (01:44)
• Navigating conflicting advice:
  • "About hearing 'don't stack insulin' then wondering how to eat." (01:48)
  • "It's not a perfect answer. It's not a magic door. It's just the road behind us lighting up the floor." (01:55–01:58)

4. Learning One Step at a Time

• Metaphor for gradual mastery:
  • "You don't learn the ocean—one hand on the shore, you learn one wave, then one wave more." (02:53, 02:56)
• Encouragement for when fear strikes:
  • "If the fear comes talking like it owns the place, let somebody else's hindsight look it in the face." (03:04)
• Accepting imperfection and progress:
  • "When number six is burning that number one way; when the room starts spinning, just name the thing that's late." (02:41–02:49)

5. The Strength of Community

• Voices unite to shrink the darkness:
  • "The darkest smaller when a voice gets through." (03:44)
• An invitation to begin:
  • "Come on, start here with what I wish I knew." (01:14, 02:24, 03:53, 04:07)
• Cycles of learning and sharing:
  • "Somebody wished it too." (03:44)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• Newly Diagnosed Patient (00:40):
  "You're staring at the kitchen like the walls might tell the truth. Asking no one in particular, what am I supposed to do?"

• Mentor (00:56):
  "What I wish I knew, I've given it to you."

• Advisor (01:02):
  "The thing I learned the hard way doesn't have to be your first bruise."

• Experienced Patient (01:58):
  "It's not a magic door. It's just the road behind us lighting up the floor."

• Advisor (02:53):
  "You don't learn the ocean—one hand on the shore, you learn one wave, then one wave more."

• Encourager (03:04):
  "If the fear comes talking like it owns the place, let somebody else's hindsight look it in the face."

• Supporter (03:44):
  "The darkest smaller when a voice gets through."

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Notable Timestamps

• 00:11–00:45
  First night home: anxiety, confusion, seeking answers

• 00:51–01:13
  Experienced voices offering wisdom—“what I wish I knew”

• 01:28–01:52
  Navigating insulin advice, the unpredictable nature of food, and school fears

• 01:58–02:18
  Emphasizing imperfect answers and illuminating the path for others

• 02:41–03:04
  Enduring tough moments, gradual progress, and weathering emotional storms

• 03:18–03:41
  Empowerment: countering fear with shared knowledge

• 03:44–04:07
  Community strength and beginning again—"the darkest smaller when a voice gets through"

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Tone & Language

• The episode is deeply empathetic, poetic, and supportive.
• Language is warm, affirming, and conversational, often using metaphor to explain emotional truths.
• The tone is encouraging: even when acknowledging difficulty, every voice is focused on hope, strength, and the value of passing along wisdom.

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Summary

"What I Wish I Knew ♫" is a heartfelt episode blending poetry, music, and many voices. It gently guides listeners—especially those newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes—through the maze of fear and newness by lending wisdom from those further down the path. The message: You are not alone, and every lesson learned is a light for someone else’s journey. “Come on, start here with what I wish I knew.”

Transcript

[Narrator]

The first night home is quiet, but

[Newly Diagnosed Patient]

not the peaceful kind. Papers on the counter, new numbers in your mind.

[Narrator]

The fridge hum sounds louder, the clock won't let you sleep and every word they gave you feels too sharp to keep. You're staring at the kitchen like the walls might tell the truth, Asking no

[Newly Diagnosed Patient]

one in particular, what am I supposed to do?

[Narrator]

Then one voice turns too many like

[Experienced Patient]

matches in a room.

[Narrator]

Everybody's got a sentence they wish it found them soon.

[Mentor]

What I wish I knew I've given it to you.

[Advisor]

The thing I learned the hard way

[Experienced Patient]

doesn't have to be your first bruise.

[Supporter]

One word, one meal, one long night.

[Advisor]

They knew.

[Mentor]

Come on, start here with what I wish I knew. 80 pages on the table of somebody should have said about insulin in second

[Newly Diagnosed Patient]

place that steal the bed about honeymoon

[Experienced Patient]

weather coming in and out of you

[Supporter]

about school on Monday morning and fear walking in with you about food that

[Experienced Patient]

does one thing then another thing at

[Advisor]

3 about hearing don't stack insulin then

[Supporter]

wondering how to eat.

[Newly Diagnosed Patient]

It's not a perfect answer.

[Experienced Patient]

It's not a magic door. It's just the road behind us lighting up the floor.

[Advisor]

What I wish I knew I'm giving it to you. The thing I learned the hard way

[Experienced Patient]

doesn't have to be your first bruise.

[Supporter]

One word, one meal one long night

[Experienced Patient]

Late new Come on.

[Mentor]

Start here with what I wish I knew.

[Experienced Patient]

When number six is burning that number one way when the room starts spinning

[Newly Diagnosed Patient]

Just name the thing that's late you

[Advisor]

don't learn the ocean One hand on

[Experienced Patient]

the shore you learn one wave, then one wave more.

[Encourager]

And if the fear comes talking like it owns the place Let somebody else's hindsight look it in the face.

[Advisor]

What I wish I knew I'm giving it to you. The thing I learned the hard way

[Experienced Patient]

doesn't have to be your first bruise.

[Supporter]

One word, one meal, one long night

[Advisor]

make new Come on.

[Mentor]

Gonna start here with what I wish I knew.

[Supporter]

What I wish I knew. Somebody.

[Advisor]

Somebody wished it too. The darkest smaller when a voice gets through.

[Mentor]

Come on, start here with what I wish I knew.

[Newly Diagnosed Patient]

Papers on the counter.

[Encourager]

Morning coming through.

[Newly Diagnosed Patient]

Come on, start here with what I wish I knew.