Diabetes Blog Day!!!

Today is the 6th annual Diabetes Blog Day.



Our topic this year is “six things you want people to know about diabetes”.  Here is what I wish everybody knew . . .

1. It’s not my fault that I have diabetes.  Type 1 diabetes is an auto-immune disease, and there was nothing I could do to keep the insulin producing cells in my pancreas from being destroyed.
2. It’s not anyone’s fault that they have diabetes.  People with Type 2 diabetes don’t get it because they are fat or lazy or ate too much sugar.  Women with gestational diabetes don’t get it because the babies they are carrying hate them.  Diabetes isn’t anyone’s fault!
3. High blood sugar and/or low blood sugars don’t mean I’ve done something wrong.  I do my best to fill in for my pancreas.  However, I am not an actual pancreas and I don’t have the skills needed to keep my blood sugars in range all the time.  Blood sugar is affected by food, exercise, stress, amount of sleep, hormones, germs . .  . the list goes on.
4. An insulin pump does not fix everything.  I once had a conversation about diabetes with someone and I mentioned that I was on an insulin pump.  I was really surprised when she responded by saying “That’s really great, that means you don’t need to do anything, right?”.  Wrong.  My pump is helpful in dosing my insulin, but it takes a ton of work!!
5. Insulin is not a punishment.  Being on insulin doesn’t mean I, or anyone else with diabetes, has “really bad” diabetes.  It simply means we need to take insulin to stay as healthy as we possibly can.
6. Insulin is not a cure.  No further explanation needed.  INSULIN IS NOT A CURE.

Sunday Rewind - Jackpot

Arg, we're supposed to blog on the weekends for NaBloPoMo??  Well, how about on Sundays, we look back at some very old posts?  Here's one from September 22, 2008, just a few months after I stared this blog.  And yes, my blood sugars still often feel like a gamble!!

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Things have been pretty busy around here lately. Pea and I are starting to feel like the only time we see each other is when we collapse glassy-eyed in front of the TV. So yesterday we decided to take time out for an adventure to our favorite playground for grown-ups, Mohegan Sun Casino. Pea's game of choice is Roulette, while I'm more of a Slot Machine girl.

Oddly enough, I couldn't help but compare the one-armed-bandit to my blood glucose monitor. They both sing out to me - with a Ling-Ling-Ling from the slots and a Beep-Beep from my monitor. I feed shiny round quarters into one, and red droplets into the other. Then I wait patiently for the results. Sometimes I'm up. Sometimes I'm down. When I break even, I consider that I've won!

Are there days when you feel like you have as much control over your blood sugar as you do over the slot machine reels? Sometimes it all just feels like a gamble to me. With the slots, I try to cash out when I'm ahead. I wish diabetes had a "collect your winnings" button too. Instead, I just keep feeding in those red droplets.

Yesterday was a good day. I hit the jackpot on both counts. I ended the day with an extra $200 in my pocket and a daily blood sugar average of 108. I hope Lady Luck decides to stick around for a while!!

Were you Blue on Friday?

Yesterday was cold and rainy.  I didn’t have anywhere in particular I had to be.  So I admit it - I hung around in my jammies until well into the afternoon.  But at least they were blue!!



Were you decked out in blue yesterday for #wwdbluefridays?  Did you post or tweet a picture?  Did it help you raise awareness?  And remember, we still have three more Fridays left to proudly wear our blue!

Bitter~Sweet Chips

What are Bitter~Sweet Chips?  Well, they are some tasty morsels for you to enjoy!  Seriously, there is a lot going on the in the D-OC these days.  And more and more great info is finding it’s way into my email in-box.  So Bitter~Sweet Chips will be my place to share these tasty morsels with you on an ongoing basis.  It may become a weekly feature, or it may just be a once in a while thing, depending on what is going on in the world of diabetes.  So settle in and enjoy these yummy tidbits . . . .

• Today is Friday and Cherise of Diabetic Iz Me has come up with the great idea of Blue Fridays.  Every Friday in November let’s wear our blue loud and proud to raise awareness of World Diabetes Day and diabetes in general.  Better yet, snap a picture of yourself dressed in blue and post it to your blog or tweet it with the #wddbluefridays hash-tag!
• If you live near Bethesda, Maryland, you might be interested in attending the Diabetes Research & Wellness Foundation’s Diabetes Transplant Summit taking place this Thursday, November 11th.  You’ll hear from leading researchers and surgeons in the islet transplant field.  You’ll also hear from patients who have already received islet transplants.  You can find a press release, event flyer and registration information on the Event Information Page.
• Do you shop at Acme^®, Albertsons^®, Cub Foods^®, Farm Fresh^®, Jewel-Osco®, Shaw’s/Star Market™, Shop ‘n Save^®, or Shoppers Food & Pharmacy^®?  If so, you might be interested in a new program the SUPERVALU family of grocery stores has launched.  It’s called “Living Healthy with My Diabetes”.  From November 7th - 20th special services such as free blood glucose screenings, reduced cost A1C, cholesterol and liver screening, and coupon booklets will be offered.  Other on-going programs such as diabetes-friendly menu planning and in-store diabetes education and monitoring will be offered.  For more information, simply visit the customer service desk of your favorite SUPERVALU store  for a list of specifics on what your store is offering.
• And don’t forget to start thinking of the six things you want people to know about diabetes for Diabetes Blog Day (#dblogday) on Tuesday.
• Oh, and also remember view the Big Blue Test video!  And make your donation to DRI and Be Part of the CURE!!

C-U-R-E

People living with diabetes need a lot of things.  We need support.  We need education - for ourselves and for the “clueless masses” who may try to judge us.  We need medication and insurance.  We need exercise.  We need strength and patience. 

But above all else, the one thing every person with diabetes needs is a CURE.  I have to admit, I’ve never really believed in a cure for diabetes - especially in my life-time.  But the Diabetes Research Institute, and their commitment to finding a real cure for diabetes, is starting to instill some optimism in me.


And that’s why I have made a donation to the DRI’s Be Part of the Cure campaign.  For a donation of $10 or more, you can upload your picture and story into the CURE mosaic, which will be printed as a giant banner upon completion and hung at the Diabetes Research Institute.  You even get to chose which efforts your donation will help fund.  If you donate $50, you will receive a mouse-pad that sports the final CURE mosaic.  I informed Pete that he is getting me one for Christmas - which really means I donated some of the money he would have spent on me for Christmas towards this campaign.  After all, a better chance for a cure and a mouse-pad mosaic of some of my favorite D-OC members are the best Christmas gifts I can think of!

To help build the mosaic and find a cure for diabetes, go to Be Part of the Cure and make your donation today!

Wordless Wednesday - Now With More Words!!

Today I’m using the prompt from the ADA’s Blog 30 Days of Diabetes in November - and beyond.  We are asked to post a Wordless Wednesday picture that answers the question  “What are the three most important things – in your opinion – that help with your diabetes management?”  And because it’s not like me to be “wordless”, I thought I’d add my thoughts about what I chose to include in my picture.

Number one is my insulin pump.  For me, I have a level of control with the pump that I never had with MDIs.  Part of this is because Lantus never gave me a true 24 hours of coverage, and even splitting the dose didn’t work well for me.  Also, I use my pump’s dual-wave feature a lot to (hopefully) better match my insulin delivery to the way my body processes some foods.

Number two is my meter.  Knowing my blood sugar level is the key to planning what and when to eat, when and how much insulin to take and what to do before and after exercise.  I love my CGM too, and it helps me a lot, but my meter is more important.  After all, the readings from my meter are used to calibrate my CGM.

Number three is . . .  my cat?  Well, sort of.  Number three is actually the things in my life that make me truly happy, the things I enjoy.  K.C. is one.  My husband, family and friends (including the D-OC) are a few more.  And yes, knitting (and all my yarn) are yet two more in this list of things that I love.  Diabetes is tough.  It takes a lot of focus, a lot of management, a lot of energy.  Focusing on the things in life that lift my spirits when the going gets tough is so important to energize me and keep me going!

One simple click can help a child in need get insulin.

Last year I was proud to participate in the Big Blue Test, in which over 2,000 people with diabetes joined together to test our blood, exercise for 14 minutes, and test our blood again.  We showed just how much impact even a small amount of exercise can have on our blood sugars.

But for many people with diabetes, exercise alone is not enough.  Many of us need insulin to live.  I’m excited to aid in promoting a viral campaign to help bring insulin to children in need.  Here are the details, quoted from the press release I received:

For 2010, the Big Blue Test is even bigger! Together with Roche Diabetes Care, makers of ACCU-CHEK® diabetes products and services, DHF is aiming for a minimum of 100,000 views of its Big Blue Test promotional video. To help the foundation reach this goal, Roche has underwritten the production of the video and will make a donation for every view the video receives up to $75,000. DHF will use the donation to help Insulin For Life and the Life for a Child program, run by the International Diabetes Federation. These two global, humanitarian organizations provide diabetes medication and supplies to children in the world’s poorest countries.
“Every time someone watches this video, it will make a real contribution to someone actually staying alive,” said Ron Raab, President of Insulin For Life. He added: “These donations go a long, long way. In places we assist, like Ecuador, less than 50 dollars keeps a person needing insulin alive for an entire year as it covers the transport cost for us to send the donated insulin.”

Visit BigBlueTest.org to watch the video (starting Nov.1) and participate in the event (Nov. 14).  The video is available for embedding at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkLHgK94Z0E 

Helping is easy.  Simply click to watch the Big Blue Test video.

And now help spread the word by promoting this video using what ever tools you have: through twitter, Face Book, emails to your friends and family, posts to your blog, anything you can think of to help spread the word.  For more information, you can read the entire press release here.

Diabetes Awareness Month is here!!!!

November is quite a busy month in the D-OC.  To kick things off, my blog has gone blue for diabetes thanks to a wonderful idea by Mike at My Diabetic Heart.

The month also kicks off strong today with Sugabetic's SAE Day Campaign.



SUPPORT!!  ADVOCATE!!  EDUCATE!!  How will you do these three things today?  And how will you continue them this month?  As a start, I’ve decided to post one random blood sugar reading each day to my Facebook status, along with a quick note about how that reading will affect my day.  Today’s status was “Karen is waiting for my pre-breakfast blood sugar of 78 to come up enough for me to get a quick workout in. (Day 1 of Diabetes Awareness Month - I plan to post one random blood sugar reading each day in November with a quick note about how it affects my day.)”.  And I won’t just post the “good” blood sugars.  I’ll post the scary low ones.  I’ll post the cringe-worthy high ones.  I’ll tell it like it is.

I’m also planning to take my best shot at blogging every day in November.  So many d-bloggers have taken on the challenge and I’m inspired to give it a go too.  Do you want to blog every day this month, but you’re afraid you won’t be able to come up with enough post topics?  Well, take a look at “Blog 30 Days of Diabetes in November - and beyond” over at the ADA website.  To encourage D-Bloggers to blog throughout the month of November, they have listed a suggested blog topic for each and every day.  It’s like “Diabetes Blog Week” in overdrive!

Is the thought of posting for 30 consecutive days enough to make your head fly off?  Well, how about committing to the 6th annual “Diabetes Blog Day”?



On November 9th Gina Capone (our diabetes bff) wants to hear about six things you want people to know about diabetes.  Remember to link your post on the Diabetes Blog Day page and tweet it loud and proud with the #dblogday hashtag.

What other plans do YOU have for Diabetes Awareness Month??