Boobs, Elderly People, the Governor’s Office #02

Deborah continues with her “firsts” themes and shares the story of how the brand of Diabetic Real came to be and emerged out of something that was less than a happy situation. It became the solution to voices that needed “to be heard.” Or boobs, elderly people, and the governor’s office.

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Transcript
Deborah E:

I'm living inside of this Perfectly Wonderful World.

Michael Anderson:

Join Deborah E, multi-award-winning singer, podcaster, and

Michael Anderson:

speaker, who proves that being diagnosed with a life-changing illness as a child,

Michael Anderson:

along with countless hospitalizations, and a family who told everyone she'd be dead

Michael Anderson:

before she reached puberty, does not have to stand in the way of life well-lived.

Narrator:

The DiabeticReal Podcast and the content of its websites are

Narrator:

presented solely for educational purposes, and the views and opinions

Narrator:

expressed by guests are theirs alone.

Narrator:

They do not necessarily reflect that of the host or the podcast.

Narrator:

The content is not intended to substitute for professional medical advice or

Narrator:

treatment, ongoing or otherwise.

Narrator:

Be sure to always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified

Narrator:

healthcare provider with any questions regarding your healthcare.

Deborah E:

Hi there.

Deborah E:

This is Deborah E coming back to you for the second episode of DiabeticReal.

Deborah E:

Thank you for joining us last week.

Deborah E:

I consider all of you a part of this, and I'd like to say "our," and include you.

Deborah E:

So, I feel like, to some extent, it's like we're sitting in kind of

Deborah E:

a fireside chat a little bit here, and I'm telling you a story of how

Deborah E:

everything is unfolding, and sort of the next, next story here, because,

Deborah E:

kind of on a, on a first, if you will.

Deborah E:

Last week I told you there was a story to how DiabeticReal actually

Deborah E:

began, and there's a story to that.

Deborah E:

So I thought I would share that part of it, that part of the story with

Deborah E:

you, where DiabeticReal unfolded.

Deborah E:

Now that you know the podcast exists, you might as well understand where the idea of

Deborah E:

DiabeticReal came from, and what inspired me to go on with that brand, if you will.

Deborah E:

And, you know, I call it a brand just because it's The thought

Deborah E:

it had to have a name, you know, everything's got to have a name.

Deborah E:

You can't just say "IT," and walk around like that.

Deborah E:

So anyway, let's, let's back up just a little bit and kind of say,

Deborah E:

I'm looking at my notes here and I don't normally work from notes.

Deborah E:

I just kind of ad lib as you could probably tell listening to me, but

Deborah E:

if I had to, I'm looking at going.

Deborah E:

Hmm, boobs, elderly people, and governor.

Deborah E:

Well, that's an interesting way to reference this particular episode.

Deborah E:

All right.

Deborah E:

So I was staying with my sister.

Deborah E:

And for any of you wondering if you're checking details and it's

Deborah E:

like, Hmm, who's Deborah E's sister?

Deborah E:

Actually, she is my former My former husband's sister, but I call her sister.

Deborah E:

And isn't it about who, you know, who's dear to our hearts?

Deborah E:

So as far as I'm concerned, this beautiful woman, she is my sister.

Deborah E:

But I have such wonderful people in my life and people that I love

Deborah E:

and people that are dear to me and take such good care of me.

Deborah E:

And you'll hear about some of these people and some of the stories that I tell as

Deborah E:

we go through this DiabeticReal podcast.

Deborah E:

So we have some interesting ones coming up for you.

Deborah E:

in the future.

Deborah E:

So I'm staying with my sister and I thought I'll just go for a walk.

Deborah E:

You know, walking's good.

Deborah E:

That's great exercise, right?

Deborah E:

And this is Southern California.

Deborah E:

I'm out there and man, it's beautiful.

Deborah E:

I'm looking around taking in the scenery and I'm thinking it is a bit warm.

Deborah E:

Now, here's the thing, and Not trying to fault, this isn't about gender or

Deborah E:

anything, but you could wear a nice sundress and be really comfortable and

Deborah E:

[it] doesn't matter what gender you are.

Deborah E:

Hey guys, do you want to wear a sundress?

Deborah E:

Go for it.

Deborah E:

Even my husband has said It's sad if guys are just forced to not wear

Deborah E:

dresses because dresses look like they might be comfortable, right?

Deborah E:

But there's this little little problem if you're a diabetic and you're wearing

Deborah E:

an insulin pump And for those of you who are not familiar with an insulin

Deborah E:

pump, It's a little device that actually holds the insulin and at some point

Deborah E:

I'll get into more Detail and explain insulin pump in a little bit more detail,

Deborah E:

but it is a device It's not like it's something imaginary or out of Star Trek

Deborah E:

It actually has to clip on to something or you can put it in your purse or you

Deborah E:

know There's there's different ways to handle it but my particular insulin

Deborah E:

pump clips on to something and the advantage that Not just men, but the

Deborah E:

men oftentimes are wearing pants, right?

Deborah E:

So they're gonna have something maybe a belt or at least pants

Deborah E:

that you can clip An insulin pump to and of course women too.

Deborah E:

You might be wearing jeans or even shorts or anything You can, you can clip the

Deborah E:

insulin pump to but if you're wearing a sundress and you're in Southern California

Deborah E:

and you're just having you know, you're walking Well, you shouldn't walk barefoot.

Deborah E:

Of course, somebody would say you're a diabetic.

Deborah E:

You shouldn't walk barefoot but anyway, you don't have anything to

Deborah E:

clip it to so What do you clip it to?

Deborah E:

Anyone have the answer to that one?

Deborah E:

You clip it to your bra.

Deborah E:

Well, the thing is, then it wants to tip.

Deborah E:

You, I'm not saying go bend over, but if you happen to bend over

Deborah E:

and pick a flower or something.

Deborah E:

The insulin pump wants to go for a trip to the ground.

Deborah E:

So what do you do?

Deborah E:

You clip it to the bra facing towards the body.

Deborah E:

Because that is going to have the insulin pump be nice and snug.

Deborah E:

And it's not going anywhere.

Deborah E:

But here's the thing that you don't think of.

Deborah E:

If you are perspiring a little too much, that means that the insulin pump is

Deborah E:

actually taking in that perspiration.

Deborah E:

And of all the things going through my head, I wasn't sitting here going through

Deborah E:

this, if then statement programmer or not.

Deborah E:

With my software development experience, I wasn't thinking about the insulin

Deborah E:

pump taking in sweat until I returned home and a few weeks later, the

Deborah E:

insulin pump, that by this point was no longer under warranty, went kaput.

Deborah E:

It did not work.

Deborah E:

Long story short on that one.

Deborah E:

It was because of the perspiration had damaged the pump.

Deborah E:

I didn't have, you know, under, if I had had medical

Deborah E:

insurance, it's not about blame.

Deborah E:

It just would have, I would have had.

Deborah E:

An insulin pump wouldn't have been a problem, but I think insulin

Deborah E:

pumps, so they were only, I don't know, $12,000 or so, and I didn't

Deborah E:

have $12,000 sitting around.

Deborah E:

Sometime I'll tell you the story of, of, uh, why I was not insured at the point

Deborah E:

there, and why I didn't have $12,000 just laying around at that point there, but I

Deborah E:

didn't, and at some point, too, there's more to that and why I wouldn't have been

Deborah E:

able to survive without an insulin pump.

Deborah E:

Anyway, so we were stuck.

Deborah E:

No insulin pump, no insurance to cover the insulin pump, regardless of blame.

Deborah E:

So, for the point of the story, just to make it simpler, we'll just say

Deborah E:

there's no blame, even though we all know that, yeah, perspiration, whatever.

Deborah E:

Point is, I had no way to cover this insulin pump.

Deborah E:

I was looking at a very short life without any way of getting insulin into my body.

Deborah E:

So, we tried different arrangements, we tried to, you know, we, what are

Deborah E:

they called, ombudsman, um, called all different options to try to get some

Deborah E:

kind of solution for this insulin pump.

Deborah E:

And I think it was only, um, oh, I don't know, something minor,

Deborah E:

like a few weeks past coverage.

Deborah E:

Um, not under warranty anymore.

Deborah E:

And I wasn't that, it's not like I was, you know, 20 years.

Deborah E:

Well, yeah, like it'd be 20 years, but it wasn't that far off of warranty.

Deborah E:

It wasn't that far, um, as far as not having medical insurance.

Deborah E:

So.

Deborah E:

Finally, I thought, you know what?

Deborah E:

I'm just gonna call the governor.

Deborah E:

I mean, what else do you do, right?

Deborah E:

Just call the governor.

Deborah E:

So I call up the governor of the state and I say, you know, and I'm not

Deborah E:

sure who I was talking to, but I did actually get to the governor's office.

Deborah E:

So, yeah, I know.

Deborah E:

It's probably secretary or an aid, I don't, whoever it was, I got that far

Deborah E:

and I said, here's the deal, okay?

Deborah E:

We're looking at death.

Deborah E:

Alright, we don't have enough money to pay for the burial, so basically I'm

Deborah E:

gonna be sitting at, at the curb, I'm just gonna pretty much keel over and

Deborah E:

die, so you'll have to actually pay for the burial, let's see, how much does

Deborah E:

that cost, oh and, oh wait, I won't die right away, it's actually, and I

Deborah E:

had been sick enough, so I know how it goes as far as when a diabetic dies.

Deborah E:

It takes a few days, as far as diabetic ketoacidosis and the whole thing.

Deborah E:

So I'll get really sick, and that means you have to send out an ambulance, let's

Deborah E:

see how much does that cost, and then I'll actually go to ICU before I die.

Deborah E:

So I don't know, what is that, $100,000 per day or so forth?

Deborah E:

So we'll say it probably takes me about three days to die, so that's $300,000,

Deborah E:

and since we don't have the money to cover it, that would be the state covering it.

Deborah E:

So at least $300,000 there, and they'll try to keep me alive, but I won't

Deborah E:

make it, so then I'll die, and then the state will have to pay for my,

Deborah E:

my death and I'll have to go through probate and we'll have, and I was adding

Deborah E:

up all these and they took it down.

Deborah E:

And you know what?

Deborah E:

I had that insulin pump within a week, somehow, even the $300,000

Deborah E:

for ICU, $12,000 just that didn't, it was like, "No problem.

Deborah E:

Your insulin pump is just covered."

Deborah E:

You put it into financials and all of a sudden.

Deborah E:

Not a problem, and the insulin pump is covered.

Deborah E:

Now, I'm not saying go manipulate people, I don't even know if the tactics were

Deborah E:

correct, but it's just, again, some of these are topics for a future podcast,

Deborah E:

but I sat down and I thought, you know, there are probably some elderly people

Deborah E:

sitting here that are really, really sick.

Deborah E:

They're much sicker than I am.

Deborah E:

They're not doing well.

Deborah E:

They don't have anyone.

Deborah E:

Maybe, maybe their loved ones have passed.

Deborah E:

Maybe their loved ones aren't talking to them.

Deborah E:

Maybe they don't have anyone.

Deborah E:

And who do they call?

Deborah E:

Who, I mean, I'm almost, literally I'm almost crying thinking about it.

Deborah E:

But who do they call to help them?

Deborah E:

Are they going to call the governor?

Deborah E:

Are they going to think of all these financials to argue with the aid in

Deborah E:

the governor's office to help them?

Deborah E:

Who is going to help them to stay alive?

Deborah E:

Did they do anything?

Deborah E:

Did they rob a bank?

Deborah E:

Did they murder anyone?

Deborah E:

Did they do anything to deserve dying alone in pain?

Deborah E:

And by the way, diabetic ketoacidosis.

Deborah E:

I don't wish that on anyone.

Deborah E:

I would rather have a bullet in the head.

Deborah E:

It is one of the most painful experiences ever.

Deborah E:

I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Deborah E:

And as I sat there, you know, before that experience, it's not that I was

Deborah E:

suicidal or anything, but I thought maybe it would just be better to die.

Deborah E:

Because fighting this and fighting this, because so many times I had

Deborah E:

been uninsured, and fighting the process when I was trying to get

Deborah E:

a job and I couldn't get a job.

Deborah E:

And just simply fighting to try to have the means to even get the insulin

Deborah E:

was so difficult that I thought, wouldn't it just be easier if I

Deborah E:

just simply didn't exist anymore?

Deborah E:

But when I went through that, I thought, wait a minute, what about all

Deborah E:

these people who don't have anyone?

Deborah E:

How are they going to survive?

Deborah E:

And that, my dear friends, is why and where DiabeticReal came from and was born.

Deborah E:

Because somebody has to be the voice of those who have no voice.

Deborah E:

And there you have it.

Deborah E:

Thank you for tuning in.

Deborah E:

This is Deborah, Deborah E from DiabeticReal.

Michael Anderson:

Thank you for listening to this episode of DiabeticReal.

Michael Anderson:

For more information about this podcast, as well as links and fun

Michael Anderson:

stuff related to DiabeticReal, visit us at our website at diabeticreal.

Michael Anderson:

com.

Michael Anderson:

Now we'll listen as Deborah E herself sings one of her favorite songs.

Michael Anderson:

Song is called Perfectly Wonderful World, written by Denny Martin and

Michael Anderson:

Jaimee Paul, engineered by me, of course,

Michael Anderson:

your host, Michael, in our Seaside Records Studio here in

Michael Anderson:

lovely Los Angeles, California.

Michael Anderson:

It was on the number one ReverbNation charts for over a

Michael Anderson:

year and still charts very well.

Michael Anderson:

So, have a pleasant moment and listen to Perfectly Wonderful World.

Deborah E:

Yes, I'm living inside of this Perfectly Wonderful World.

Deborah E:

Oh.

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