Author Archives: StephenS

Hello… I’m Stephen. I live in Baltimore, Maryland, USA with The Great Spousal Unit, Maureen. I’ve been living with Type 1 Diabetes since January 1991. I’ve been a pump user since April 2010, and I’m currently wearing the Animas Vibe pump. Also wearing the Dexcom G5 continuous glucose monitor.

I found the Diabetes Online Community in the summer/fall of 2011, and that discovery has changed my life. I started this blog in April 2012, and since then, my diabetes advocacy has continued to grow. Among other achievements, I’ve attended and spoken up at FDA workshops and participated in clinical trials.

I’ve been thrilled to serve as a facilitator for the Diabetes UnConference. And I’ve been honored to volunteer for Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition. You should Google both of those.

I’m currently serving as a member of the State of Maryland’s Advisory Council on Health and Wellness, where I am co-chair of the Diabetes committee. In addition, I’m part of the 2018 Reader Panel at Diabetes Forecast magazine.

I’m always searching for the perfect balance between the highs and lows of my blood glucose level and my life… always searching for the Happy Medium.

Anything you’d like to share? Please let me know… I’d love to hear from you.

We need to take care of ourselves.

January 14, 2015 – 9:37 am

Wow, what a difficult morning… or was it?

Yesterday, I got out of bed a little late (maybe 15 minutes), and like most mornings, I had a list of things to do before I left for work. Shower, shave, get my clothes on, go downstairs, let the dog out, feed the dog and cat, start the coffee (always high on the list), make my own breakfast, pack my lunch, and…

Take my medicine. I mean that both literally and figuratively.

Fifteen minutes doesn’t seem like a lot, but it is a lot when I also have to look after my diabetes. I forgot to do a BG check before I made breakfast (I am definitely a pre-boluser), and that frustrated me. So I stopped what I was doing, washed my hands like a good little boy, and performed the finger stick. I’m home free, right? Wrong.

I forgot to take my oral meds. This includes a multivitamin and a baby aspirin every day. That’s another thing I have to stop for.

Then, when I was within five minutes of leaving, I realized: I needed an infusion set change. There wasn’t enough insulin left in my reservoir to last through the workday; so once again, I had to stop what I was doing to focus on, you know, doing stuff that will help keep me alive. I arrived at work just in time, and started a full schedule of meetings and testing.

This kind of morning really bothers me. Until I’m actually out the door. Then I’m all business, not thinking about the things I have to do for my health and how much time they take out of my life. I mean, I get it: I’m extremely fortunate to be able to buy drugs and vitamins, and have an insulin pump to help me manage my diabetes. I don’t like the extra time that managing and worrying about my diabetes takes. But I also tend to sweep it under the rug a lot. My Midwestern upbringing taught me to not complain about things I can’t change; just deal with them and move on.

And I can usually handle that, until I’m confronted with it in a way that makes me stress over the time these things require, in a very tangible way. Then everything is different, and the relentless nature of diabetes is manifested in ways that can make me very unpleasant to live with for a while.

In the end though, what can I do? I just did what I had to do… I took care of myself. It’s easy for us to forget that, isn’t it? We need to take care of ourselves. Regardless of the time it takes. We are worth that effort. Our health and well-being come first. And though it might make a few of my colleagues uncomfortable to read this, work will still be there if I’m five minutes late.

Despite the time it required, once everything was finished, I was ready for the rest of my day. Diabetes frustrated me yesterday, but I was still able to tame it by taking the time needed to take care of me.
 
 
 

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How are you feeling?

January 12, 2015 – 10:01 am

So… How are you feeling?

Hopefully, you haven’t had to go through the awful cold bug that’s been going around the USA. I got to experience that around Christmas and New Year’s. Lots of gunk in my chest, off and on nausea, and it took a little over two weeks to feel right again.

Now that I’m on the mend, I’m back to getting active. Mostly, that means time on my spin bike upstairs. I’ve been trying to get into better shape by simply electing to do more than I was doing the previous three months or so, and be more consistent about it. No big predictions about what I’ll look like in six months, no lofty goals about competing in the Iron Man triathlon in Hawaii (although, in reality, I’ve never dreamed that high).
Workout Room with Large Mirrors
Right now, it’s all about doing what I can do to feel better. Looking better will hopefully come later. Oh, there are athletic events on my radar… there always are. But at this point, I just want to be able to string together a few months of regular workouts without getting sick or having something else happen that will give me an easy excuse to give up.

My record-setting days are probably behind me now. Heck, even my personal record-setting days are probably behind me now. But I’m not dead yet. Far from it. Now I’m concentrating on feeling good, being healthier, and when I do participate in an athletic event, having fun. There ain’t nothing wrong with that. Especially if I’m able to make more efficient use of the insulin that squeezes from the pump attached to my waist each day.

Meanwhile, I’m making extra-sure that I cough into my elbow, dress in layers this time of year, and use plenty of hand sanitizer (but not before I perform a BG check).

What about you? How are you feeling? Have any personal goals this year, athletic or otherwise? Let’s talk.
 
 
 

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Saturday’s Champion Athlete With Diabetes: Will the basketball star.

January 10, 2015 – 3:45 pm

It’s time for one more… one more inspiring, feel-good story this week about an athlete living with diabetes and chasing their athletic dreams.
Champion-Athletes-With-Diabetes-Medal
Today’s athlete, like so many others this week, is a young person, diagnosed as a young person. Will has been living with Type 1 diabetes since he was 5 1/2 years old. Now he’s eight years old and playing on his first basketball team! His Mom, Angie Herbrand of suburban Madison, Wisconsin had this to say back in December:

“He LOVES playing sports, especially basketball. Example – a friend gave him a LeBron James jersey for his birthday last week. He has worn that jersey seven days in a row. Yep, seven. He’s always got a basketball in his hand. Even when he doesn’t have a ball handy, he’ll jog down the hall perfecting his shot with a make-believe basketball.

Yesterday he tried out for his first basketball league, and he rocked it. He is so excited to start playing!”

Will made a long shot during his tryout that none of the other kids were able to make.

And that’s not all… Angie told me later that Will participated in basketball and mountain biking day camps this past summer, and a snowboarding camp in December. Shout Out: Those events were specifically for Type 1 kids, provided by Riding on Insulin and Slam Dunk for Diabetes. Yay diabetes fitness organizations!

Congratulations Will! Pursuing your athletic goals is great for you, and hearing how much fun you’re having makes me even happier to call you a Champion Athlete With Diabetes.
 
 
Don’t forget: If you’re like Will, achieving athletic goals while living with diabetes, or if someone close to you is doing that, click here or on the image of the medals in the upper left of this page, and we’ll get started on your medal today.
 
 
 

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Champion Athlete With Diabetes: Lucas, the Miami Racer.

January 9, 2015 – 9:37 am

All this week I’ve been profiling our newest Champion Athlete With Diabetes medal winners. If you haven’t already, please take a moment and read about the others. Go ahead… check them out! Don’t worry… this will still be here when you get back. In addition to those, there’s a medal winner I want to talk about today, and one more tomorrow.
 
 
Lucas is ten years old, and lives in Miami. He’s been living with Type 1 diabetes since he was 3 (sigh). In the past year, Lucas started running. And what a runner he is!

He joined a group down there called the Miami Milers, a kids running club. In addition to training with them, he’s participated in a series of 5K runs, including at least two in the past two months. He’s running them around 26:08. That’s faster than I ran my last 5K. It’s a little over eight minutes per mile, folks. For a ten year old. But that’s not all.

His Mom, Jessica Perez, has this to add:

”He also is an avid cyclist, every month we cycle for the City of Miami Beach, a 15 mile bike ride. Lucas is a perfect candidate to receive your medal. He will also be doing his first Duathlon in February of next year. He feels very driven and proud of himself to complete more than the average task for a boy his age living with Type 1 Diabetes.”

Well, he is certainly doing that, Jessica. You can just tell that Lucas doesn’t let diabetes, or anything else, slow him down. He’s the kind of athlete that we all cheer for: Driven, determined, great story, overcomes his most difficult challenges.

Lucas… Congratulations on your athletic achievements! You’re an inspiration to people living with diabetes everywhere. An inspiration. Here’s to many more miles on the road, either running or biking, throughout the year.
 
 
Five medal winners this week… one more tomorrow… twenty-five in all so far. Do you want to be next? If you, or the special person in your life has been reaching their athletic goals while living with diabetes too, you should click here to find out more, and send me an e-mail today.
 
 
 

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Today’s Champion Athlete With Diabetes: Emily.

January 8, 2015 – 8:58 am

Teenager Emily from Saginaw, Michigan (it’s 13 degrees there right now—yikes!) has a unique distinction among our Champion Athletes With Diabetes.

She’s our first swimmer!

Emily just finished her second season swimming for her high school team, and if they swim around the same time of year that we did when I swam on my high school team in Ohio, her third season should be coming up soon.

According to her Mom Karyn:

”Not a day went by that she didn’t improve by dropping seconds of her best times. Never a day that she would hide her pod or let diabetes interfere. She is my hero.”

Is it just me, or are kids more loud and proud and accomplishing more than all of us adults living with diabetes? Let me tell you: Swimming is hard. To be consistently good, you have to consistently be in the pool, doing laps, day after day, month after month.

The payoff, of course, is great muscle tone and awesome, efficient use of insulin. But to get there, you can’t be half-hearted. You have to really commit to working hard on a regular basis. As a former competitive swimmer myself, I understand just how big Emily’s accomplishments really are.

Congratulations Emily! Your hard work, your fearlessness, and your dedication set an excellent example for others, and it makes you a most worthy Champion Athlete With Diabetes.
 
 
If you’re living with diabetes, and you’re active; or if someone close to you is living with D and is active, we’ve got an honest-to-goodness medal we’d like to award you.

There are only four simple things to do to get yours:

1. The athlete receiving the award must be living with diabetes.

2. The athletic event must have taken place in the last six months. For now, we’re going with a pretty loose interpretation of the word “event”. If you feel you’ve accomplished something important to you, that’s an event. ‘Nuf said.

3. Send me an e-mail at champswithdiabetes@gmail.com. Tell me your name, name of the athlete (it’s okay if it’s you), and your address (gotta know where to send the medal). Most important, tell me what athletic goal was accomplished, and when. Extra points if you tell me how you felt accomplishing the goal. Full disclosure: I reserve the right to use your testimonial here, on Twitter, and on Facebook. I will not use your name if you don’t want me to. As always, I will never share private information.

4. When you receive your medal, it would be great if you post a photo of it around the athlete’s neck. You can send a Tweet to @ChampsWithD (hashtag: #champdathletes) or post it on the Champion Athletes With Diabetes Facebook Page.

I think D-Athletes are amazing. If it’s a big deal to you, it’s a big deal to me too. I want to support you, or support the Athlete With Diabetes in your life.
Click here to find out more.
 
 
 

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