Funny diabetes stories with Scott and the crew PLUS bonus updates

For all the seriousness of the condition, it is possible to find some humor in it. And it doesn’t have to be gallows humor either!

This week on "Live, with Scott!" we’re sharing some stories from the mySugr crew about our funny experiences living with diabetes. We hope that you’ll find some humor in the stories and feel comfortable sharing some of your own #FunnyNotFunny stories on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.

Also, we have a special guest in the second half of this podcast. On Friday we had a meet-and-greet with Erik and Annalisa from Miles of Portraits and they share a special video about their journey with us!

Summary

• Does diabetes come with or breed a witty sense of humor?
• A few #FunnyNotFunny diabetes stories from Scott & the mySugr crew
• Bicycling tips from San Diego's JDRF team in Erik's latest video
• An on-the-road #MilesOfPortraits update from Erik & Annalisa
• Scott's heading to Diabetes Training Camp's new event – Type 2 Boot Cam

Transcript

Scott Johnson: Have you ever had a moment with your diabetes that makes you laugh, smirk, or smile? I know. It may sound strange, but that's what we're talking about today, so hang with me. What's up, Monster Tamers? Welcome to another episode of "Live, with Scott!" Thanks so much for tuning in. My name is Scott Johnson. I've been living with diabetes since I was five years old, and the social media space, that's you, by the way, has been a really important part of my wellbeing for a long, long time. So thanks so much for helping me along.

Scott Johnson: As your host today, I'm very excited about taking a look at some #FunnyNotFunny diabetes stories together. But first, today's winner. Congratulations to Brian Donovan from my home state of Minnesota (Hey, Brian!) who just won some fun mySugr swag. Brian, we sent you a message a little while ago on Facebook to coordinate details. Everyone else, stay tuned for your chance to win too. And while we get going, please share a quick hello in the comments and let me know where you're watching from.

Scott Johnson: And if you know anyone else that might find this helpful, please do me a favor and share this with them. Today's episode is sponsored by the mySugr Bundle. Get unlimited strips, automatic supply refills, personalized support and more all for just $49 per month. Learn more at mySugr.com/FacebookLive.

Scott Johnson: All right. We all know that diabetes sucks, and that's why our mission at mySugr is to make diabetes suck less. Now, I believe that a diabetes diagnosis comes with (or maybe breeds?) a witty sense of humor. And while diabetes is no joke, like any of you living with diabetes, I have my fair share of #FunnyNotFunny diabetes stories. Looking back on them, they totally make me grin or sometimes even laugh out loud, no matter how crazy they may have felt at the time.

Scott Johnson: For example, one time I was sitting at a restaurant, and I'm at the edge booth, edge seat of the booth, and I start going to check my blood sugar, and somehow, right as I'm popping the top of the vial of test strips, I manage to fumble the vial – and the test strips spilled everywhere. It was like the most violent game of 52 Card Pickup, but with test strips. They just sprayed all over the aisle of the restaurant. At the time, I was horrified, and embarrassed, and not sure what to do. I'm looking at 40 or 50 test strips just sprayed all over the aisle of the restaurant, and I'm thinking to myself like, "Oh man, what do I do?" I wanted to leave them there, but there was a mess, and these strips, they were like a dollar a piece, so I couldn't afford to leave them there. So sure enough, I'm down there picking up each test strip and putting them back in the vial one at a time, and it was really, really embarrassing. But I look back on it, and it makes me chuckle.

Scott Johnson: Another story that comes to mind. And this is a little bit visual, right? So when I was a child and using syringes to take my insulin, I had this routine. So I'd take my shot and then I'd have this routine to put the syringe in my mouth. I'm going to use a pen to demonstrate. So I put the tail end of the syringe in my mouth and then I'd grab the cap and I'd ever so gently put the cap on the syringe and then tap it with the side of my hand. Like that. To make sure the cap was on right. One day, somehow I forgot a very important step in that process, and guess what happened? Yeah. I somehow forgot to put the cap in the syringe, and when I went, 'bump', to make sure that I had the cap on right, I put that syringe right in my hand, and I just was like, "Ahh!" Now, it didn't hurt at all. It just totally freaked me out that I was looking at this syringe sticking straight out of my hand. I pictured my eyes bugging out like in the cartoons, and just, "Ahh!" So that's a memory that sticks in my head, right?

Scott Johnson: Another one that comes to mind for me is, I have a great friend, Molly, back in the Minneapolis area, and I was meeting with her for brunch one day, and she comes and sits down across from me at the restaurant. I can tell she's really flustered and upset as if something just happened, and I'm like, "Molly, what? What's going on? What happened?" She sits down, she's like, "Oh, I was coming to meet you, driving down the highway, and in front of me is this semi truck, hauling those big giant tractor tires, and the strapping came loose or something, and all of a sudden, there's tractor tires just flying across the highway coming at all the cars." And she's dodging tractor tires going 65 miles per hour down the freeway. And I'm like, "Holy. Wow. Lucky you didn't get killed. That could have been a tragic accident." And she's like, "Yeah, and not only that but now my blood sugar's a mess from all the adrenaline." And I'm thinking, "She's not upset about narrowly escaping tragedy by way of being crushed by a giant tractor tire in a freak car accident, she's upset because her blood sugar's a mess from the adrenaline and stuff."

Scott Johnson: Only diabetes can do something like that to us, right? I don't know, these things are just crazy when you think of them going back. So I also asked a few people from around the office if they have any stories that make them laugh as well, so let's take a quick look at that.

Laura: Hi my name is Laura from mySugr, and recently, my husband called to make an appointment... Wait, no. I've got to start over. And he's type 1 diabetic, and they asked him over the phone if he was on any medication, and he said, "Just the ones that are keeping me alive."

Molly: Hi I'm Molly from mySugr, and several years ago, when I started on a new insulin pump, I woke up in the middle of the night to my cat gagging and me in a pool of insulin. And it turns out, my cat had bitten through my tubing and let all of my insulin drain out of my pump.

Sophie: Hi I'm Sophie with mySugr, and today I'm going to tell a story that happened to me a few years ago. One night in college, I went on a date with a new guy, we had just met, and he was dropping me off at my house afterward, and I guess I had my purse and a syringe had fallen out. So I don't hear from him for like a month, and I'm texting him like, "Hey, what happened?" Nothing. And then he texts me out of the blue a month after seeing me and says, "What do you know about heroin?" And I'm like, "What? What do I know about heroin? Nothing. Why are you asking me this?" And then he says, "You left a syringe in my car." So I proceeded to tell him, "I have diabetes. That was for my diabetes." And he doesn't believe me. Who doesn't believe someone when they say they have diabetes?

Scott Johnson: All right. What about you guys? Do you guys have any stories that make you giggle, or laugh, or smile when you think about them? Listen, watch our social channels over the next few days and contribute your funny, not funny experiences around living with diabetes. We also have a big announcement coming up that you won't want to miss, and all of this circles around April Fool's Day. We are big fans of having fun with diabetes, and we won't miss an opportunity to have some fun around April Fool's Day.

Scott Johnson: So listen, last week, I mentioned hosting Erik and Annalisa from Miles of Portraits here at mySugr on Friday. We had a great time with lots of special guests from around the local San Diego, North County community, and I wanted to just share a few pictures with you. Then, I met up with them on Saturday again as they joined San Diego's JDRF Ride to Cure Team during their Miles of Portraits Tour. Now, these two have already traveled over 10 thousand miles on their fully loaded bicycles, including their diabetes gear of course, and they shared some recent tips for those who want to start riding in their latest YouTube video. I'll put a link to that in the comments.

Scott Johnson: And guess what? I just got a special delivery from Erik and Annalisa a few minutes ago. Let's take a quick look at that as well.

Erik Douds: Hi, good morning, mySugr audience. I'm Erik.

Annalisa van den Bergh: I'm Annalisa.

Erik Douds: And we are the Miles of Portraits gang, and we'll give you guys a quick update on where we are and where we're doing. You want to share where we are?

Annalisa van den Bergh: So we are in El Centro, California, which is very close to the border. We were biking yesterday and we could literally see the Mexican border.

Erik Douds: And then we rolled out of Julian, which is where all the mountains are, into the desert for the first time, so I've got a pretty wicked sunburn going on here. But looking ahead, we'll be in Phoenix hopefully by April 1st, and on April 4th, we'll be doing a talk and screening at REI. So overall, you want to share what Miles of Portraits actually is?

Annalisa van den Bergh: Sure. So Miles of Portraits is a magazine and film that documents the people who we meet as we eventually ride our bikes around our world. So I'm kind of in charge of taking the pictures of the people we meet and making the magazine, and Erik is shooting a film about our experience biking all these miles and managing type 1 on the road.

Erik Douds: So we have crossed America together following the Trans Am, we were in Alaska for six weeks last summer, and now we are going from LA out to Santa Fe, so you guys, we will give you guys updates along the way. If you have any specific questions on how we manage diabetes, how we fit everything on our bikes, where we sleep, or anything like that, we're super open to it, and Scott will have us on hopefully each week to give you guys updates. Anything else?

nnalisa van den Bergh: Looking forward to this rest day that we're having, which we sometimes call a stress day because we have so much to catch up on, but it'll be nice to give our legs a rest.

Erik Douds: Very true. So enjoy the rest of your day and follow us on @milesofportraits on Instagram. https://milesofportraits.com has all our films and everything you need to find, and thanks for tuning in.

Annalisa van den Bergh: Thanks, guys.

Scott Johnson: All right. So as you heard, they're hoping to send a special update just for you each week so you can follow their journey. Send in any questions you might have for them. Of course, I'll link to their website, MilesofPortraits.com and all their social channels as well. So big, big thanks to Erik and Annalisa for stopping by the office while they were riding through town and, of course, sharing their ride with us each week. So we're going to have exclusive updates just for you guys as they complete this amazing tour through this section of America. How amazing is that? And you know what? If you guys like it, I'm sure that we can convince them to continue sharing updates around the world with us. I know I would love that.

Scott Johnson: All right. As a special thanks to all of you watching, I have a fun mySugr tote bag with some goodies inside, like a Pop Socket and a few stickers, and I tracked down another autographed copy of Adam Brown's Amazing Bright Spots and Landmines. Let me track down ... there's the autograph right there. Yeah, awesome. I would love to give this stuff away. To enter the giveaway, leave a comment below, let me know if you enjoyed today's episode, and before next week's show, I'll randomly pick a lucky winner or two and announce them during the start of next week's broadcast.

Scott Johnson: I also want to share something else I'm very excited about. Now you hopefully have heard me talk about Diabetes Training Camp before, and I'm excited to share that they have added a Type 2 Diabetes Boot Camp to their lineup. So this is something that's happening just in a few days here. I'm actually heading out tomorrow to travel to the East Coast and hang out with these guys. I'm going to spend some time and interview the staff, and most importantly, hear from as many of the campers as I can get my hands on, and stick them in front of a camera, and learn more about their story, why they're interested in the camp, what they hope to get from the camp, and then follow them throughout the camp, and come back and share that story with all of you.

Scott Johnson: So be sure to tune in next week, where I will tell you all about it. So thank you so much for joining today. Please like this video, share it with your friends, have another amazing day, and I will see you next week.