Category Archives: Diabetes

You might be interested in this.

January 11, 2013 – 9:46 am

There’s something I left out in Wednesday’s Like These Links post, and I want to include it here today. Plus a couple of extra things you might want to know about.

First, the thing I left out on Wednesday: Lee Ann Thill of The Butter Compartment has started a new project. If you’re a veteran of Diabetes Art Day, you know that Lee Ann has a special gift for inspiring people connected with diabetes to create art as therapy. I’m not particularly gifted (and that’s an understatement), but she even inspired me to do something this past year.

Anyway, Lee Ann’s new thing is related to her Doctoral studies, and it’s called VIAL Project (Voice – Insulin – Art – Life). According to the official website, “The purpose of this research is to explore the experience of having type 1 diabetes and food and body issues, and the experience of using arts-based expression on a social media platform.”

To get a detailed explanation of this very cool project from Lee Ann’s point of view, check out her post from earlier in the week: http://www.thebuttercompartment.com/?p=6863

To read more and sign up to participate, visit the VIAL Project website: http://vialproject.ning.com
 
 
 
Also, the International Diabetes Federation is sponsoring a giveaway of one of their “Show Your Outrage” T-shirts plus some extra blue circle swag. But hurry… the giveaway ends January 14. It’s easy to enter.
Just go to: http://www.idf.org//international-diabetes-federation-giveaway-0

Consider your message shared, IDF.
 
 
 
Finally, if you’re close to Washington, D.C. the first weekend in February, you’ll have the opportunity to attend the Children With Diabetes Focus on Technology Conference in Arlington, Virginia, right across the Potomac river from our nation’s capital. Tom Karlya will be there. And I just found out that Kerri Sparling and Scott Johnson will be there too. Okay, now I’m kinda jazzed about going. There will be lots of talk about diabetes and technology, and a closing keynote from Sebastien Sasseville, Team Type 1 athlete and the first Canadian with Type 1 diabetes to summit Mount Everest. The Great Spousal Unit needs to hear from this guy that I can do anything I set my mind to.
To find out more, register for the conference, and even book your hotel, start here: www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/activities/DC2013/
 
 
 
Enjoy your weekend!
 
 
 

By StephenS | Also posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments (3)

Really?

January 4, 2013 – 9:37 am

Okay, first rant of the new year coming up…

I’m beyond needing to order test strips. I’ve resorted to using my old meter because I knew they would be expensive right now. To explain this would take a month of blog posts, so I won’t bore you with it here. The situation is this: I have a pretty great prescription plan at work, but there’s this time, usually in the middle of my plan year (which is now), when I have to pay for everything out of pocket for a period of time. And that time is now.

Well, I decided that I really do need to order new strips for my current meter, so I told myself I would bite the bullet and order the strips. Then I found out how much it would cost:

TestStrips

That’s nearly $1.00 USD per strip, people. I guess I should be happy they only want to give me an 88 day supply this time (in case you’re wondering, 7 50-strip packages equals 350 strips, divided by 88 days = 3.98 strips per day).

I’m all for companies making a profit on their product. But I also believe in a little fair play. I know it makes me sound like a “free market capitalist”, but if you’re going to produce a product that’s so expensive, shouldn’t I have the ability to shop around for the same product elsewhere? Either from another prescription provider or another manufacturer? Or both?

I know that the manufacturers will say that their product is proprietary, and they shouldn’t have to share it, and they’re doing everything they can to “create efficiencies” and keep costs to consumers as low as possible. It’s still a test strip, manufacturers. You’ve been making and marketing test strips for 25 years or more here in the USA. I grant that accuracy is an issue, and I’m glad you’re all working on it. But can’t you just make the strips you’re already making more accurate? And can’t all of you make the same test strip, and work on making that more accurate? Sounds like that alone could “create efficiencies”.

My take: Profit away, test strip manufacturers and prescription providers. But if it’s going to cost so much for something I really need, you should be willing to show me how much of a profit there is in 88 days worth of test strips. And I should be able to search for the same product elsewhere, from multiple vendors. Trust me… I’m going to be a loyal customer for the foreseeable future. I just think that when push comes to shove, diabetes necessity should trump profit (and accessibility should too). Is that too much to ask?
 
 
 

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This feels a little weird.

December 18, 2012 – 9:59 am

I’ve got a new Twitter follower:

Follower

Since I’m the curious type, I clicked on the link to their site. What I found was no less than 43 different varieties of “Diabetic Socks”.

I’m not sure how I feel about that. For some reason, the term “diabetic socks” sounds bad to me. And weird. So weird that I have to use quotation marks every time I use the term “diabetic socks”. And shouldn’t they now be called “Socks With Diabetes” (or SWD)? Okay, I jest. But the term “diabetic socks” still gives me the creeps, no matter how many times I write it (with quotation marks) in my post.

I mean, I get the idea… helps wick away moisture, promote healthy circulation, et cetera. But really folks… I’ve been a PWD for over two decades, and I’ve never worn “diabetic socks”, and my feet are just fine.

Keep your feet clean. Wear clean, non-restricting footwear, whatever it is, every day. Rinse. Repeat. If you can do that, you stand a good chance of avoiding having to visit a site like that to get a pair of “diabetic socks”.
 
 
 

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Real Life Get-togethers. Not just for T1Ds anymore.

December 7, 2012 – 12:08 pm

The Great Spousal Unit and I attended an open house for Type 1s at the local JDRF headquarters this week. It’s important for me to go to these things, in part because I’ve been feeling very anti-real-life meeting lately, if that makes any sense. There’s not a good reason for that. It’s just that mostly, at the gatherings I’ve been attending, I’m the oldest person in the room. Sometimes by a lot. And as you probably know, sometimes, if people can’t immediately identify with you, they don’t want to talk to you.

So I dragged the spouse to this get-together. She wasn’t feeling too good that day, but I figured if I could get her to come, I’d have at least one person to talk to all night.

You know what? We both had a great time. We didn’t get to talk to a lot of people, but the conversations we had were meaningful. I saw someone I recognized from mentor training a few months back. We spoke to a mom whose kid was diagnosed not too long ago.

That last conversation was particularly poignant for TGSU. She got to hear, maybe for the first time, someone talking about nighttime BG checks, packing diabetes supplies as well as books and pencils for school, and managing pump settings for an active summer instead of desk-bound school days.

On our way out, we passed by her child and a couple of other kids that were there, who were drawing designs on balloons (and using the name tags from the event to write “Free Balloon” on each one—wish I had gotten a photo of that) and handing them to people as they left.

On the way home, Maureen was feeling a lot better. And she admitted to a new understanding (and perhaps empathy?) for parents of CWD (Children With Diabetes) and their never-ending labor of love for their children. All I could think of was how great it is that that kid seems to be living the kind of life they’re meant to live, even with diabetes along for the ride.
 
 
 

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Heightened Awareness.

November 26, 2012 – 10:24 am

Due to this being Diabetes Awareness Month, and the fact that I’m more aware of diabetes in general in the past year, I almost wasn’t surprised when I found this on the walk outside of my gym:

Hope your post-Thanksgiving week is off to a great start!
 
 
 

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