It's like a whole science lab. I feel like I'm doing some sort of experiment. Live from the basement. It's building a better Dave. Check us out at betterdave.com. Email us at [email protected], or call in your comments. (888) 563-3228. Now here's your host, Dave Jackson. Hello. Welcome aboard the, train. And it's weird because my last three episodes have been kind of depressing, and this one is just more of kind of a health update.
And starting in January, right, started exercising like everybody else, dropped a few pounds, you know, went on the road, found a few pounds. That's the way it kinda works. And, it's really weird because all of a sudden one Sunday, I'm playing my guitar in church and there's this thing called a capo. It's basically a big spring. You push on it, you put it on your guitar, you let go, and now
you can play chords up and down the neck. And I went to squeeze the capo with my right hand, and I couldn't squeeze it enough to put it on the guitar. Now, eventually, kinda instead of using just my fingers, I used the butt of my thumb on my right hand and was able to do it, but I was like, well, that's weird. That's weird. And so as I looked into it more, I have a thing right now where if I take my hand
and stretch it out so put all your fingers together. Right? And then you just tilt your fingers back, my pinky just kinda goes, hey. Those other fingers have cooties. I don't wanna be over there. And so your brain is going, no. No. Go go over there. And your finger just ignores it. Really weird. So that was weird. And I have always been somewhat worried about
my blood sugar because my mom was a diabetic. I've always been kinda worried about my blood pressure because from the age of 18, I've had kinda high blood pressure. Like, maybe it's because you're sick. Nothing really to worry about. So throw on top of that, I got this weird eel that pops out of my stomach when I try to do a sit up. I was like, that looks like a hernia. Alright. You know? So I'm
like, wow. I just turned 60, and I'm falling apart. And so I bought one of these continuous glucose monitors, and they're not cheap. If you if you get one that's actually, like, prescribed, it's, like, $300 a month. And this was, like, a hundred dollars a month. And
I was like, alright. I can a hundred I can do. 300 maybe not. But you have to, like, basically pinky swear that I'm not using this to measure my blood sugar for diabetes even though I'm kinda, you know, using this to measure my blood sugar for diabetes. And so you kinda take it. I also have one of those things where you pick your finger, and then you you do the hokey pokey, and you put this little it's like a whole science lab. I feel like I'm doing some sort of experiment, and that
again showed that my blood sugar was high. But this thing was much easier. And so with my pinky going weird and everything else, I'm like, you know what? I I I love my dad, but he was not a fan of doctors. He once, was working on a car and a bunch of rust fell in his eye. And he had kind of the mentality of, like, doctors practice medicine, and I don't want anybody practicing on me. He kinda went blind, not completely, but in that one eye. And I was like, alright. Don't be
your dad. Go see what's going on. So I go to the doctor and explain what's going on, and they're like, well, my hernia is a hernia. But, apparently, if it doesn't hurt and, you know, an alien isn't popping out of your stomach, you're okay. And I'm like, okay. That's cool. And so she's like, but we're gonna need to take your your blood. And I'm like, okay. So the fun thing is I go to this place, and, of course, you've gotta register
online. It's not that bedside manner is bad. It's just there isn't any. Like, you have to go through and show them your driver's license and all this stuff. And then you go in, and you show him your health card, of course, which they have to scan, and it's it's you know? Now for the record, I got in and out of there pretty quick. But it was like a hundred bucks to take my blood. And I'm like, really? That's with insurance. I'm like, okay.
Well but if you're new to the show, I have a problem with blood in the fact that I can't really tell when it's gonna make me pass out or not. Sometimes, yes. Other times, not so much. And so I'm like, okay. Which arm I gotta pick? I gotta figure this out. And I'm like, maybe I'll just look to the right. And I looked to the right, and it's like one of those little almost like an old milk carton just filled with vials of blood. And I'm like, okay. I'm not looking that way. Because even doing
that, I just felt my stomach kinda go and I was like, yeah. That's not good. And so I explained to her, I'm like, hey. Take the blood from this side. I'm gonna look to the left. We're gonna be good. So we did that. Take the blood. Get the results back. And it's one of those things where you don't wanna go to the doctor because you're pretty sure they're gonna tell you something bad. And being that my mom was a diabetic and that my blood sugar was above
normal, and I was like, yeah. They're just gonna tell me. And I said, I'm pretty sure I'm prediabetic trying to, you know, do my conclusion from WebMD. And she's like, oh, no. You're diabetic. And I was like, oh, okay. And because I guess the a one c, like, normal is 5.7, and I'm clocking in at an 8.9. I'm like, wow. Look at me, overachiever. And something's wrong with my thyroid. And as I record this right now, I have no idea what my thyroid does.
I know it does a bunch of stuff. Haven't gone to WebMD or YouTube to have it, you know, frighten me into thinking I'm dying, which is kinda what m WebMD should be called. WebMD, we're here to, you know, convince you you're dying tomorrow. And so I haven't done that yet. But the interesting thing was, I was like, oh, is this what we're gonna do now? Because I already take vitamin multiple vitamin, multiple then I take d. I take a little b
twelve. I take some fish oil. I take some sort of green stuff that's supposed to help my brain, and something begins with an m. Then I take barium that's supposed to help your blood sugar. Right? All this stuff. And I always take the multivitamin and vitamin d in the morning, and then the other ones right before I eat lunch. And so I get this stuff, and the one's like, okay. You must eat this with food. I'm like, alright. Well, I'll eat that
with breakfast, I guess. And the other one is, like, eat this without food. So now I got this whole thing where I'm like, oh, I'll eat this without food and without multivitamins. And I was like, wait. I got the multivitamin thing in the morning, and I can't eat with food. So now I'm like, alright. I guess that one's gonna be my morning pill. And there's this whole thing
now. And I'm like, I think I already have one of those pill boxes worth, like, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday on it, But I might have to go with the super jumbo deluxe model where you have, like, the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, but then you have, like, morning, afternoon. It's like a crossword puzzle trying to figure out when to take your pills. And I'm like, is this really is this my is this my life now? And I'm not a fan of big pharma. I told my doctor, I said, I do not wanna be on
Ozempic. I know it can help me lose weight, and it's really a diabetes drug. But I'm like, I've I've I've listened to Jillian Michaels who kinda said, yeah. That's not really been tested enough. And you lose a lot of your muscle. Like, you lose weight, but people aren't saying, wait. Losing what kind of weight? Hell, oh, you're losing all your muscles so that when you if you ever stop taping taking Ozempic, yeah, congratulations.
That weight is coming back in record time, and you'll probably get more of it because you the thing that burns up all the calories is now gone. But I'm just like, oh, alright. You know? And then there is a thing called, what is it? Age onset diabetes. Like, maybe this isn't my mom. Who knows? But what's stupid about it is I have found, because I've proven it, that if I get on an exercise bike or my elliptical, I can watch
myself, like, ten minutes once I get off that thing. If I'm doing, like, I don't know, fifteen minutes to a half hour, my blood sugar will drop, like, ten, fifteen points. Right? So if I'm right now, I look over, I'm at one eighty five. If I got on a treadmill right now, you know, I'd get done and be at, like, one seventy. Now it's still far from one forty, but I've also seen if I keep going and I ride for, like, an hour, an hour and a half, it
just keeps dropping because I'm burning the sugar out of my blood. And, it's just weird. The other thing I knew is my feet get hot, if I have shoes on for a long time or I have to sleep with the blankets off my feet. So I knew there was something going on. And when you start messing with my hands and my feet, especially being a guitar player, I get a little nervous. But it is there's a part of me that life is is politely bitch slapping me in the face and going, no,
dude. I don't think you understand this. Yes. You're not really, really old, but you are 60, and you didn't really take good care of yourself. Yes. You're better than some people. Yes. You walk around the block, and, yes, you don't eat a lot of fast food, but you do eat fast food, which is gone. Now at the beginning of the year, like, from now so from January to April, maybe 10 times, you know, where it used to be four times a week
2024. So I cut that stuff out. I'm drinking water. I I don't drink Coke or anything. Haven't done that in a whole long time. But it's just weird that I'm like, okay. Now the other thing let's let's wind this up with some good news. So congratulations. You're a diabetic. And but I was in Chicago last week at this thing called Podcast Movement Evolutions, And they always have these parties,
and usually the parties are ridiculous. It's just, you know, ear bleeding madness of oops, oops, oops, oops, oops, and you're trying to, like, tell me about your pod you can't you're screaming at people. And they went instead to a bar called Spin in Chicago that had, I think, six or eight ping pong tables. Now I played ping pong nonstop from fifth grade to, I don't know, age 30. I was the second place in my high school at ping pong, and, actually, that should have been first
place. I was up three games to one, and the guy came back and won four games in a row. And every game was so close. That was really fun. So I know how to play ping pong. And my brother and I played nonstop. My best friend and I played nonstop. I still remember one of my favorite, like, top five memories is the first time I beat my dad three games, because my dad didn't cuss. But, you know, when I beat him the first game, he was like, okay. Because he always just killed me. And so I'm playing
my brother and my best friend while he's gone, and I'm getting older. I'm getting stronger. And I finally beat him. And when I beat him the third game, he laughed so hard. It was great. It was just like, alright. It was a cool little father son bonding thing. And so I'm worried though because as we've already pointed out, I'm 60. Oh, and besides all the blood stuff, my right knee occasionally just every now and then, like, every, I don't know, 250 steps, it just kinda goes. Right? You're
just, like, stepping down the steps, and it goes. And you're like, okay. Hold on. I won't put all my weight on you. And, so I'm like, hey. Am I gonna be going for a shot? And my knee goes, I don't think so. And I fall down, and then I'm on the ground in front of all my friends screaming. I've fallen, and I can't get up. So I was really worried about it. And then I was, like, what do I wear? All I have are blue pod page T shirts, and I'm just
gonna soak through those. Because when I play ping pong, I'm in it to win it. And so instead of wearing a t shirt because I was worried about sweating through it, I got a hoodie. Yeah. That makes sense. Won't sweat through that, but I will sweat twice as much. And so by the end of it, I look like Bowser from Sean, Na Na with my hair slicked back. That is if if Bowser had gray hair and not, you know, gray. But the cool thing was it was really interesting
because I'm watching these guys play ping pong. And within, like, five, ten minutes, my brain goes, oh, that guy over there has no backhand, and that guy over there has no you know? And I'm picking up it's like literally like riding a bike. And so finally, me and a friend of mine start playing. And as it's coming over the net, my brain is like, what is going on? It's almost like the lights are blinking. It's like, woah. Woah.
Woah. Woah. Hold on. I'm I'm having a hard time keeping up with the ball, and I'm like, what is going on? And then it dawned on me I'm wearing trifocals. And when you got a ping pong ball that is going from up to down, you're like, this doesn't look like it did when you were, you know, 21. And I'm like, oh, am I gonna be able to play? Now god bless the brain. It figures out. It's like, hey, eyes. Remember, things are gonna look a little weird because you got your glasses on. I'm like, okay. And,
I did not lose. Not only was I playing ping pong without my knee blowing out, but I didn't lose. And, I beat my buddy, Daniel. The second game was much better than the first. But then this this guy came up and he's like me. He has, like, you know, he's part orangutan where his arm span is, you know, 10 feet, and it's hard to get stuff by him. And, man, that was fun. And he was spinning and I was spinning and spiking and all sorts of stuff. And, in the end, I won. And so I was very, very happy.
Not that I won, although that was definitely fun. I was just happy that I could play ping pong. I actually looked to see if there's a place to play here in Akron A Couple Months ago when my buddy was in town. We couldn't find one, but, that was, that was a cool way to end that evening even though I was covered in sweat. And, you know, I'm in a hot bar, so cooling off wasn't really something going on. But
so all is not lost. I'm a diabetic, and I am going to try I don't like being a pill popper because if you've watched any kind of TV, it's always like, ask your doctor if barexotol is for you. Don't take barexotol if you're allergic to barexotol. And by the way, it might cause explosive diarrhea, a third nipple, and death. And I'm like, okay. I need to go look up these drugs and see if I'm gonna grow a third nipple or death or explosive diarrhea.
You know? Like, I'm just not a big fan of big pharma. So we shall see. But the good news is, right, there's always there's that cloud, and then there's the sun. You know? So if you got a shadow somewhere, you can look at the shadow or you can look at the sun. So I'm gonna look at the sun and go, hey. Five games, not even close, really. I can still play ping pong. And, the rest I'll keep working on. And as for my
finger, yeah, the doctor said that might be related to my blood sugar. I'm not really putting those two dots together, but in the meantime, I'm doing my hand exercises. I can actually finger pick a guitar. You don't really use your pinky. You use your other four fingers, and that was a little weird for a while. But as a guitar player, I want all my fingers, and so that's coming back. And, as I'd like to say here on the show, it's gonna get better.