Monthly Archives: March 2015

Now is the time– Make an impact.

March 18, 2015 – 9:56 am

I have one piece of semi-big news for Type 2s today, and one very big reminder for Type Anythings…

First: Abbot Diabetes Care is going ahead with clinical trials of its Freestyle Libre system. Already available to People With Diabetes in Europe, it promises glucose monitoring without performing fingersticks. That’s a potential game changer for many PWDs. But there’s a lot more to it than that. For a super write-up on the Libre, check out this review from diaTribe.

Now Type 2s have the opportunity to take part in 14 day clinical trials of this device. Trials will be held in California, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, and Texas. So there might be one near you.

I’ve written many times about the importance of clinical trials, and the importance of your participation in trials. So consider taking part in this trial and helping to advance device options for others living with diabetes in the USA. For all the lowdown on the trials, CLICK HERE.

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Diabetes Hands Foundation and Diabetes Advocates sponsor MasterLab, the (now) two-day diabetes advocacy workshop happening July 7 and 8 at the Friends For Life conference in Orlando. DHF and DA are offering 19 scholarships to participants who are looking to get their advocacy on by attending this event. Scholarships include airfare to and from Orlando, hotel accommodations, and other considerations. I received a scholarship to attend MasterLab last year, and it made a huge impact on me. What I learned there helped me tremendously when I spoke at an FDA workshop later in the year.

This year I won’t be asking for a scholarship. So you already have one less competitor! But you must apply by April 3. To find out more about MasterLab and other scholarships available through Diabetes Hands Foundation, CLICK HERE. NOW.

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Very exciting stuff folks. I’m looking forward to hearing more about the Libre clinical trials and MasterLab from some of you. Please let me know if you take part, and what it does for you. Good luck!
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Clinical Trials, Events | Tagged , , , | Comments (1)

Diabetes Unconference: What is your area of expertise?

March 16, 2015 – 2:17 pm

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The very first Diabetes UnConference is now over. It was held at the Flamingo Hotel on the Las Vegas strip, in the shadow of the already-famous High Roller.

How to describe the UnConference? Well, I can’t tell you much about what was discussed in our sessions Saturday and Sunday. That’s because all attendees observed a strict no-social-media policy from our meeting area throughout the weekend. So I’m not here to give you a blow by blow rundown of what was presented.

Now that that disclosure is out of the way, let me back up a bit. Let me tell you about what the Diabetes UnConference was.

It was a place where adults living with diabetes, of all types, from all backgrounds, were engaging with each other in a safe, protective environment, rather than sitting in their chairs and looking up at someone’s PowerPoint presentation. It was an absolutely judgement-free zone 24 hours a day.

Instead, the experts at this conference were the attendees. Their presentations were on a number of subjects and drew on the collective experience of nearly 2,000 years of living with this chronic condition.

There was laughing and crying, there was criticism and praise, and there was support and a lot of listening to each other.

There was not always agreement. There was always respect. There were diabetes veterans meeting the newly or relatively newly diagnosed. There were tips and tricks exchanged.

People shared some of their most closely held fears and secrets. People emerged stronger. People emerged not feeling so alone. People were empowered to take another look at diabetes and their friends who live with diabetes, making a collective investment in a better future for all of us. We are all in.

In the end, I can tell you how I’m feeling a day after the conclusion of this event. Thanks to the people in the photo above, my heart is soaring today, without the help of anything but insulin and the support, understanding, and empowerment provided by my fellow compatriots.

And I would be honored if you brought your expertise to the UnConference next year.

Aboard the High Roller, 500 feet above the Las Vegas strip

Aboard the High Roller, 500 feet above the Las Vegas strip

No disclosure to see here, folks. I paid for conference registration and for travel to and from Las Vegas all on my own. And I’m damn glad I did.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Events | Tagged , , | Comments (22)

JDRF TypeOneNation DC Research Summit. Where else?

March 12, 2015 – 9:12 am

Last Saturday, people from the USA’s Mid-Atlantic region living with and affected by Type 1 Diabetes gathered for another TypeOneNation Research Summit in Bethesda, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C.

This was my third DC summit, and usually I go over all the presentations in great detail, trying to pass along the information I gathered on a wide variety of topics over the course of about seven hours.

Instead of doing that again, I think I’d like to ask you a few questions. These questions are especially for those of you with TypeOneNation summits coming up in your area soon, but also for those who may have skipped this year’s DC summit and want to know what it was like. So… Let me ask you:

Where else would you get expert advice and a chance to ask questions about diabetes and exercise, and the best way to handle both, from the amazing Gary Scheiner, author of “Think Like a Pancreas”?

Where else could you find out the latest on beta cell encapsulation, including updates on clinical trials and photos of the procedure actually being done?

Where else could you find out the science behind Emotions and Diabetes from the insightful Diane Herbert?

Where else can you get all of the above and an update on the latest in Artificial Pancreas development from the excellent (and humorous) Dr. William Tambourlane?

Where else can you discover what’s on the T1D research horizon from JDRF’s National Director of Research Investment Opportunities, Tom Brobson?

Where else can you get all of this plus additional sessions, plus a great panel Q and A session with all of the presenters, moderated by the incredibly intelligent Molly McElwee Malloy?

Where else can you bring your T1 kid to share in a safe, fun environment with other T1 kids?

Where else can you meet other adults living with Type 1 Diabetes, who help share information, write blogs, and share tweets from the presentation with the world?

imageWith Heidi, writer at D Log Cabin, who will also be with us this weekend in Las Vegas for the Diabetes Unconference(!), and Jehan, who tweets from @gigi_tweets2.
 
 
Jenni_JDRFWith Jenni Maizel, who was tweeting from her own account and handling the @JDRFGreaterCP account too.
 
 
This is just a sample of what you get when you go to a TypeOneNation summit. I haven’t even mentioned the exhibit hall or the book signings. Personally, I was encouraged by the fact that there seemed to be a lot more adult T1Ds in the crowd of over 900 Saturday than there were in years past. There were also lots of D-Moms and D-Dads who are learning more than ever before, who were sharing with other D-Moms and D-Dads, and were also asking questions of Type 1 adults in attendance, who were sharing their experience. During this summit, there seemed to be as much interaction and information-sharing among the tables as there was on stage.

There are still TypeOneNation summits to be held in several places around the USA, including this Sunday at the Sharonville Convention Center, about five minutes from where I grew up in the Cincinnati area. CLICK HERE to find out where the remaining summits will be held and how to register (Free!).

Until there’s a cure, we have each other. Find out the latest on Type 1 Diabetes research, the latest in what JDRF is up to, and more, in a welcoming place full of people who are climbing the same mountain. If you haven’t made the commitment yet, let me urge you: GO.

Where else?
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Events | Tagged , , , | Comments (7)

#DBlogCheck: Building Community.

March 10, 2015 – 9:17 am

It’s another D-Blog Check-In Day (for my previous thoughts on #DBlogCheck, see here and here).

Christopher Snider, who writes at A Consequence of Hypoglycemia, started this idea a while back. Basically, it’s a day where we’re less of a lurker and more of an active online participant in the Diabetes Online Community, by leaving a comment on every post we read on diabetes blogs, Tumblr, Instagram, and so on that we see.

If you read something today, leave a comment. Even if it’s just to say “check” or “I’m here”. Be sure to share and encourage others to do the same on Twitter and elsewhere by using the hashtag #dblogcheck.

It’s a way for us to support those bravely sharing their stories, a way to build community, and more than that, it’s a way to continue the dialogue among the vast hordes living with diabetes and helping those living with diabetes. That’s what I’d like to talk about today.

Writing this blog for nearly three years means that I’m not exactly a rookie anymore, but I’m not quite a seasoned veteran either. Even so, in the limited time I’ve been doing this, I’ve seen how the diabetes community has evolved. It’s true that the DOC is no longer a nascent community of random people shouting into the ether. Instead, it’s a vast interconnected network of people who know each other personally, know each other online only, or don’t know each other at all, but are nevertheless hanging on every word that is written.

Can you imagine what it must have been like in those early days? Writing out thoughts and posting them without knowing who was out there to see them? But someone did. And those initial readers responded. They connected, the same way you and I are connecting today. You know what? That kind of writing and that kind of response is still the basis of what grows the DOC, reaching more people, changing more lives.

Meanwhile, the community of it all has really grown in the last few years. Off the top of my head, I could probably list a dozen or more diabetes initiatives and organizations that have taken flight, including my own (notice the photo of the medals in the upper left corner of this page), through the sheer nature of someone raising their hand and saying I’m here, and someone else responding. How does that happen?

Through participation.

Through your participation.

Through your positive response.

It has all happened through your commitment to community.

As you comment today, think about what it means when you say “Yeah, me too”, and “Yeah, I think that’s a great idea”, and “Hey, what if you tried this”. Because while it still takes a great idea to start something, it also takes a great response to make a community successful.

So think about what your involvement means to this ever-growing community. What it means to someone who is finding their voice. What it means to someone advocating on your behalf before government officials. What it means to those raising money for an important diabetes cause. What it means to someone thinking about getting people together to encourage and support one another.

You, dear reader, are just as important as anyone else in our diabetes community. Let me take this moment to thank you for the insightful, inspirational, and encouraging comments you’ve left here so far. Let me also encourage you to continue to stay engaged with this wonderful community. You’ve made it the safe, empowering, and uplifting place it was long before I showed up. And you’ll make it the bigger, even better place it can be long after I’m gone.

Unless, of course, they find a cure first. Then you’ll have something even bigger to be proud of.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Social Media, Support | Tagged , , , | Comments (20)

Friday Reminders.

March 6, 2015 – 11:18 am

A couple of quick Friday updates before I go back and park myself in front of the nearest space heater:

The FDA Office of Minority Health Will Host a Webinar About Commenting to a Docket. Want to learn more about adding your voice to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration docket concerning your health (HELLO, Advocacy)? Efforts from the Diabetes Online Community to add the voice of the patient to FDA considerations has been extremely helpful and is absolutely necessary. Find out how to do it, and why it’s important for you to add your voice, during a webinar hosted by the FDA’s Office of Minority Health on March 25 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Eastern time.

For more information, and to register for the webinar, CLICK HERE
 
 
#DBlogCheck Day is back this Tuesday! Spearheaded by Christopher Snider of A Consequence of Hypoglycemia and the Just Talking Podcast, D-Blog Check-in Day is a day when we spend time commenting on every blog, Twitter feed, Instagram member, and so on that we see, even if we just say “check”. As Chris says, it’s not about page views; it’s about saying I’m here and I support you. It’s about continuing to build community.

CLICK HERE to find out more, and don’t forget to link your posts there on Tuesday.

Be sure to check in, leave a comment, and boost the spirit of someone bravely telling their story.
 
 
Finally… If you live in the USA, don’t forget to move your clocks ahead one hour this weekend. That also means please remember to update the time on your diabetes devices. I know I’m getting older, because this “Spring Forward” event seems to happen earlier every year.

If only Spring would come along with the change…
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Like these links | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (2)