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.
Chapters
- 00:00 Intro (and Disclaimer)
- 00:49 Deborah's Introduction
- 01:33 The Origin of the DiabeticReal Brand
- 03:04 The Boobs
- 08:00 The Governor
- 09:51 The Elderly
- 12:52 Closing (including Seaside Records)
Episode Credits
Visit us at DiabeticReal.com to learn how you can participate (and to contact our team or ask for support)!
© 2023-2024 Social Web Cafe (Seaside Records, part of Michael T. Anderson dba Anderson Creations)
00:00 - Intro (and Disclaimer)
00:49 - Deborah's Introduction
01:33 - The Origin of the DiabeticReal Brand
03:04 - The Boobs
08:00 - The Governor
09:51 - The Elderly
12:52 - Closing (incl. Seaside Records)
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, which 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 diagnosis, advice
Narrator:
for treatment, ongoing or otherwise.
Narrator:
Be sure to always seek the advice of your physician or other
Narrator:
qualified healthcare provider.
Narrator:
Any questions regarding your healthcare.
Deborah E:
Hi there.
Deborah E:
This is Deborah E coming back for the second episode.
Deborah E:
DiabeticReal.
Deborah E:
Thank you for joining us last week.
Deborah E:
I consider all of you a part of this, and I 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 a fireside chat
Deborah E:
a little bit here, and I'm telling you a story of how everything is unfolding, and
Deborah E:
sort of the next Next story here because kind of on a on a first if you will last
Deborah E:
week I told you there's a story to how DiabeticReal actually began and there's
Deborah E:
a story to that So I thought I I would share that part of it that part of the
Deborah E:
story with you where DiabeticReal Unfolded now that you know, the podcast exists
Deborah E:
You might as well understand where the idea of DiabeticReal came from and what
Deborah E:
inspired me to go on with that brand, if you will, and, you know, I call it a
Deborah E:
brand just because it's The thought, it had to have a name, you never think it's
Deborah E:
got to have a name, you can't just say it, walk around like that, so, anyway,
Deborah E:
let's, let's back up just a little bit, and kind of say, I'm looking at my notes
Deborah E:
here, and I don't normally work from notes, I just kind of ad lib as you can
Deborah E:
probably tell listening to me, but, if I had to, I'm looking at going, hmm,
Deborah E:
Boobs, elderly people, and governor.
Deborah E:
Well, that's an interesting way to reference this particular episode.
Deborah E:
Alright, so, I was staying with my sister.
Deborah E:
And for any of you wondering if you're checking details and it's like, Hmm?
Deborah E:
Who's Deborah E.
Deborah E:
's sister?
Deborah E:
Actually, she is my former My former husband's sister, but I call her
Deborah E:
sister and isn't it about who, you know, who's dear and to our hearts.
Deborah E:
So as far as I'm concerned, this beautiful woman, she is my sister.
Deborah E:
And actually my biological sister tried to kill me.
Deborah E:
So we'll just leave it at that.
Deborah E:
That's a story literally for another podcast episode.
Deborah E:
Down a ways.
Deborah E:
Okay.
Deborah E:
So anyway, I'm really gifted at going off on tangents, but we'll keep, we'll
Deborah E:
keep it on the straight and narrow.
Deborah E:
We're talking about where DiabeticReal came from here.
Deborah E:
I'm staying with my sister, and I thought, I'll just go for a
Deborah E:
walk, you know, walking's good.
Deborah E:
That's great exercise, right?
Deborah E:
And this is Southern California, 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:
You know, my husband has said it's sad if guys are just forced to not
Deborah E:
wear dresses because dresses look like they might be comfortable, right?
Deborah E:
But there's this little, little problem.
Deborah E:
If you're a diabetic and you're wearing an insulin pump and for those of you
Deborah E:
who are not familiar with an insulin pump, It's a little device that actually
Deborah E:
holds the insulin and at some point I'll get into more detail and explain
Deborah E:
insulin pump in a little bit more detail, but it is a device It's not like it's
Deborah E:
something imaginary or out of Star Trek It actually has to clip on to something
Deborah E:
or you can put it in your purse or you know There's there's different ways
Deborah E:
to handle it but my particular insulin pump clips on to something and the
Deborah E:
advantage that Not just men, but the 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.
Deborah E:
But anyway, you don't have anything to clip it to.
Deborah E:
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 and pick a
Deborah E:
flower or something, 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:
Well here's the thing that you don't think of.
Deborah E:
If you are perspiring.
Deborah E:
a little too much, that means that the insulin pump is actually
Deborah E:
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, with my software development
Deborah E:
experience, I wasn't thinking about the insulin pump taking in sweat until
Deborah E:
I returned home and a few weeks later.
Deborah E:
The insulin pump, that by this point was no longer under warranty, went kaputz.
Deborah E:
It did not work.
Deborah E:
Long story short on that one, it was because of the perspiration.
Deborah E:
Had damaged the pump.
Deborah E:
I didn't have, you know, under, if I had had Medical insurance, it doesn't,
Deborah E:
it's not about blame, it just would have, I would have had an insulin pump.
Deborah E:
Wouldn't have been a problem, but I think insulin pumps, so they were
Deborah E:
only, I don't know, 12, 000 or so.
Deborah E:
And I didn't have 12, 000 sitting around.
Deborah E:
Sometime I'll tell you the story of, of uh, why I was not insured at
Deborah E:
the point there, and why I didn't have $12,000 just laying around
Deborah E:
at that point there, but I didn't.
Deborah E:
And, uh.
Deborah E:
At some point, too, there's more to that and why I wouldn't have been
Deborah E:
able to survive without insulin.
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, 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 should 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, it's probably secretary or aide, whoever it was, I got that
Deborah E:
far, and I said, here's the deal, okay?
Deborah E:
We're looking at death.
Deborah E:
All right, we don't have enough money to pay for the burial.
Deborah E:
So, basically, I'm going to be sitting at, at the curb.
Deborah E:
I'm just going to pretty much keel over and die.
Deborah E:
So, you'll have to actually pay for the burial.
Deborah E:
Let's see, how much does that cost?
Deborah E:
Oh, and, oh wait, I won't die right away.
Deborah E:
It's actually, and I had been sick enough, so I know how it goes
Deborah E:
as far as when a diabetic dies.
Deborah E:
It, it takes a few days ketoacidosis and the whole thing.
Deborah E:
So, I'll get really sick and that means you have to send out an ambulance.
Deborah E:
How much does that cost?
Deborah E:
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 3 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 make
Deborah E:
it, so then I'll die, and then the state will have to pay for my My death and
Deborah E:
he'll have to go through probate and we'll have, and I was adding up all these
Deborah E:
and they took it down and you know what?
Deborah E:
I had that insulin pump within a week.
Deborah E:
Somehow, even the $300,000 just, that didn't, it was like, no problem.
Deborah E:
Your insulin pump's covered.
Deborah E:
You put it into financials.
Deborah E:
And all of a sudden, 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, I, it's not that I
Deborah E:
was 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.
Deborah E:
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
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 Jaimee Paul,
Michael Anderson:
engineered by me, of course, your host, Michael, in our Seaside Records studio
Michael Anderson:
here in 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.
Michael Anderson:
Yes, I'm living inside of this perfectly wonderful world.
