#DBlogWeek – Day Seven. Spread the love.

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It’s the final day of Diabetes Blog Week! Myself and many others have been posting for 7 (seven!) straight days. This is the final day’s post. Don’t forget that you can find links to all of the D-Blog Week posts right here. Now, on to today’s subject:

As another Diabetes Blog Week draws to a close, let’s reflect on some of the great bloggers we’ve found this week. Give some love to three blog posts you’ve read and loved during Diabetes Blog Week, and tell us why they’re worth reading. Or share three blogs you’ve found this week that are new to you. (Thanks to Pearlsa of A Girl’s Reflections for inspiring this topic.)

In general, this is very difficult for me. I love reading other blogs, and I always think everyone writes better than I do. So how do I choose just a few? Well, it’s a little easier this time because I’ve been traveling this weekend. I published Friday’s post from the road, and Saturday’s post after I got back home again (because I couldn’t remember to post it at 6:00 in the morning before I left for my event). As a result, I haven’t been able to catch up on everyone’s posts as much as I usually do by now. But I will… trust me. For the time being, if I may, I’d like to give shout-outs and encouragement to the following three posts I discovered this week. If you haven’t read these already, please do so.
 
 
– From Day One (Share or Don’t Share), I really felt for Kelley at Below Seven. Because I’ve been in her shoes before, and it’s tough. I really dig her writing anyway, and this was a good, heartfelt post. Find out why she doesn’t want to visit her previous endocrinologist anymore:
http://www.below-seven.com/2013/05/13/diabetes-blog-week-share-and-dont-share/
 
 
– I really enjoy reading Ilana’s writing at Diaturgy too. I always enjoy reading someone who can turn a good phrase. She does a great job of it in her Freaky Friday post from Day 5, and there’s a really funny graphic in there too:
http://diaturgy.blogspot.ca/2013/05/the-chronic-d-blog-week-day-5.html
 
 
– Finally, two posts from Day 2 (see what I did there? I didn’t limit myself to three!). First, Sarah at La Osita’s Blog writes a petition emploring carbohydrates to all behave in the same way when interacting with our systems. And, even though I don’t read a lot of D-parenting blogs, I found the petition at Girl Glycosylated to be quite compelling indeed. Why not check out both of them?
http://laosita.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/we-the-undersigned-dblog-post-day-2/
http://girlglycosylated.blogspot.com/2013/05/ive-got-your-back.html
 
 
So that’s Diabetes Blog Week for 2013. Thanks so much to Karen Graffeo at Bittersweet Diabetes for hosting another super week of blog posts. And I look forward to catching up with them all, and finding new places to visit via the interwebs very soon!
 
 
 

May 19, 2013 – 4:30 pm Categories: Diabetes Blog Week | Comments (2)

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#DBlogWeek – Day Six. Time for a wild card.

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We’re near the end of Diabetes Blog Week! Myself and many others are posting for 7 (seven!) straight days. Haven’t heard of Diabetes Blog Week? Get the lowdown by clicking on the banner above.

We’re up to day six now. And to be honest, I am the Worst.Artist.Ever. That means it’s time for a wild card subject:

Back by popular demand, let’s revisit this prompt from last year! Tell us what your fantasy diabetes device would be? Think of your dream blood glucose checker, delivery system for insulin or other meds, magic carb counter, etc etc etc. The sky is the limit – what would you love to see?

I know I’m not going to give this subject justice today, but here’s a little of what I’d like to see:

– A device that delivers insulin and measures glucose through the same infusion set.

– It would be nice if said device would be 100 percent accurate. Always.

– And can it deliver data real-time to mobile devices and the internet?

– While we’re at it, can we make the data readable by Macs and PCs and Androids and iPhones and Samsungs, etc.?

– Let’s give it an alarm that will wake the dead in the middle of the night.

– What if it sent data to your endocrinologist on a regular basis, whether they want it or not? And then what if it held them accountable for helping you and kept them from saying stupid things, like “non-compliant diabetic”? (I’m not talking about you, Dr. P)

– Oooh… Let’s give it a feature that will taser the Diabetes Police whenever they get out of line (maybe with cupcake frosting).

– And finally, I need my Dream Diabetes Device to pick the winning Powerball numbers tonight. ‘Cause 600 Million Dollars would buy a lot of test strips.
 
 
 

May 18, 2013 – 4:25 pm Categories: Diabetes Blog Week | Comments (2)

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#DBlogWeek – Day Five. AKA Freaky Friday!

diabetes-blog-week

We’re right in the middle of Diabetes Blog Week! Myself and many others are posting for 7 (seven!) straight days. This is day five’s post. Haven’t heard of Diabetes Blog Week? Get the lowdown by clicking on the banner above. Now, on to today’s subject:

Just like in the movie, today we’re doing a swap. If you could switch chronic diseases, which one would you choose to deal with instead of diabetes? And while we’re considering other chronic conditions, do you think your participation in the DOC has affected how you treat friends and acquaintances with other medical conditions? (Thanks to Jane of Jane K. Dickinson, RN, PhD, CDE and Bob of T Minus Two for this topic suggestion.)

This is an easier topic for me. Since doing the My Week With Celiac series earlier this year, I feel a special kinship with those dealing with Celiac disease.

Let me tell you… Having to eat gluten free for an entire week was hard. And it’s not just sticking to a gluten free diet. It’s keeping the gluten away from everything you come into contact with throughout your day. Every day. Does that sound hard? You bet it is.

I think that switching out my diabetes for celiac might at least get me to eat healthier. It’s no secret that my diet is a something that needs a lot of work. So going gluten free would at least get me to cut out a lot of the bad carbs. The hard part for me would be to keep from getting “glutened” by trying to eat gluten free, but not keeping everything that’s gluten free away from everything that’s not gluten free. That would be the real difficulty.

Now, has my participation in the DOC (Diabetes Online Community) affected how I treat friends and acquaintances with other medical conditions?

I’ll just repeat what I’ve said in the past: Being cursed with diabetes means that I’ve been blessed with perseverance and empathy. I think that empathy thing is especially true for everyone in the DOC. It seems to me that this community is so welcoming because either nobody else is talking about us at all, or when they are talking about us, they’re saying the wrong things. So when we see others in a similar situation, whether they’re People With Diabetes or People With Another Condition, we instantly feel that empathy. It’s a common thread that’s sewn through all of us.

And I hope that thread stays with us, and stays strong for a long time to come.

P.S. I’m off to Easton, Maryland today for the Chesapeake Bay Tour de Cure. I’ll be riding in the 55 mile event on Saturday. If, by some longshot chance, you see me tomorrow, please say hello.
 
 
 

May 17, 2013 – 7:30 am Categories: Diabetes Blog Week | Comments (2)

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