Category Archives: Like these links

Like These Links – Provide Support – Participate – Do Good.

July 10, 2013 – 9:54 am

You may have heard about all of these already. But just in case you haven’t, be sure to lend your support, learn, and participate in all of these initiatives:
 
 
Scott Johnson has made it to the semifinals(!) of the 2013 Insulindependence Athletic Achievement Awards contest. He needs your help to make it to the finals. Each unique view of the video below means another vote for Scott in his quest to win a $5,000 package of support for his future athletic endeavors. So view it on your desktop, your laptop, your iPad, your smart phone, and all of the PCs in the school library. And don’t forget to share this with your friends too. Scott’s an inspiration to everyone (myself most definitely included), so show your support by viewing today.


 
 
Now… A reminder to Strip Safely. Glucose meter and test strip accuracy is a big issue, and there’s a DOC initiative to do something about it. I invite you to go to www.stripsafely.com (or click on the image below) and take the quiz. Then do something about it, including writing your elected officials in Washington and telling everyone about it. Tell everyone about it. Because our lives depend on it. More to come on this issue, in this space soon.
StripSafely
 
 
Finally… If you live on the USA’s east coast, you’re invited to join the #DSMA party in Philadelphia on August 7th. That’s during the time that the AADE convention is taking place there. Cherise and Scott will be hosting DSMA Live, and since it’s a Wednesday, I suppose there will be some #DSMA Twitter Chat going on in person too (is that a thing?) Here’s the information:
DSMA
 
 
Get involved now… Happy Hump Day!
 
 
 

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Pumps and CGMs and being a bear.

June 18, 2013 – 7:09 am

Oh My! There are a couple of things I want to draw your attention to. I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to write about these things, but fortunately, someone else already has.

These both may seem kind of negative, and I don’t really mean to sound that way. Sometimes, I can be a bear when it comes to problems with things that are intended to help keep us alive. But these issues are what they are, so I’m telling you about them now so you’ll know. As a counter to these points, I will promise you, Medtronic, and you, Dexcom, that I’ll write something good about your products before the end of the week.

– Medtronic has sent a letter to all of their pump users with detailed descriptions of how to properly remove your insulin reservoir from your vial of insulin. Turns out, there’s a wrong way to do it and you may not know. I didn’t. Not following the proper procedure could have serious consequences. Medtronic has the write-up on this issue right here:
http://www.medtronicdiabetes.com/support/product-updates
 
 
– Also, Sara over at Moments of Wonderful experienced an issue with Dexcom™ CGM audible alarms not going off. This is not an “official” Dexcom™ issue, but in light of going low without hearing an alarm at night a couple of months back, I’m wondering about my own unit right now. Read Sara’s post here:
http://momentsofwonderful.com/2013/06/looks-can-be-deceiving/
 
 
And while we’re talking, don’t forget to vote early and often for your favorite posts from around the #DOC for the June Best of the Betes Blogs! All of the details are here:
http://momentsofwonderful.com/best-of-the-betes-blogs/
 
 
See, I did get something positive in there at the end. Toward the end of the week, the shiny side of the Medtronic and Dexcom coins.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Also posted in Diabetes Technology | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

Don’t miss these events!!!

May 10, 2013 – 9:25 am

Just want to ask for a couple of minutes of your time today, so I can remind you about two Must-Dos (if you Can-Do them) next week and the week after.

Monday begins the fourth annual Diabetes Blog Week, hosted by Karen Graffeo at Bitter-Sweet Diabetes. Every day from Monday through Sunday you’ll get a different subject to write about. There are also a couple of wild card subjects just in case a day’s topic leaves you stumped. Each day you’ll publish on that day’s subject, then link your post over at Karen’s.

Perhaps the best part about D-Blog Week is the fact that you’ll get to read and discover others like yourself who are out there telling their stories too. It’s a fun, eye-opening week of discovery and, of course, blogging. Don’t miss it!
http://www.bittersweetdiabetes.com/2013/05/diabetes-blog-week.html
 
 
The following week, on Tuesday, May 21, the first annual all-virtual Diabetes Hope Conference will take place. It all begins at Noon eastern time, 11 a.m. central, 10 a.m. mountain time, and 9 a.m. on the left coast.

They’ll be using Google Hangouts to live stream discussions between panelists. They’ll be taking questions from participants via Twitter… use the hashtag #dHopeConf. If you’re not available then, I’ve found out that it will be recorded and available later via YouTube. Panelists will include (are you ready for this?): Manny Hernandez, Emily Coles, Mike Lawson, Dr. Bruce S. Trippe, Dr. Steven Maynard, George Simmons, Kerri Sparling, and Karen Graffeo (who apparently gets one day of rest after D-Blog Week).

I’m thinking there will be a lot of super discussion involved when that group gets together. You can register for the Diabetes Hope Conference here:
http://www.diabeteshopeconference.com/

That’s it for now. I’ve got to get crackin’ on those D-Blog Week posts…

Have a great weekend!
 
 
 

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Like these links.

April 19, 2013 – 9:49 am

I know I haven’t had much to say this week. I’ve been sick with that nasty chest cold that’s sweeping the east coast this month, so I’ve been trying to lay low. Just not six feet under low. As such, I thought it would be nice to share some delicacies from other parts of the DOC (Diabetes Online Community).

I’m not linking today to the posts regarding renaming Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Although I have to admit to being in the “we’d still have to explain it anyway / let’s support everyone” group, my feeling is: Feel how you want to feel about it. If you want to say you have Pancreatic Distress Syndrome or something else instead of Type 1 or Type 2, then go ahead. And if you don’t like the idea of renaming what we have, I won’t try to convince you otherwise. We’re all entitled to our opinions. Whatever they are. No exceptions.

Now that that’s out of the way, try these on for size.
 
 
Kate’s Sweet Success has a very interesting recipe for… Black Bean Chocolate Cake. It got rave reviews in her household. Are you up for the challenge? Here’s the recipe:
http://kates-sweet-success.blogspot.com/2013/04/cool-beans.html
 
 
Over at Diabetes Mine, Mike Hoskins recently did a thorough review of diabetes social media summits that take place around the country. An interesting look from an insider’s point of view:
http://www.diabetesmine.com/2013/04/whats-next-for-diabetes-social-media-summits.html
 
 
Hallie Addington at The Princess and the Pump has the details of a wonderful interview her little one conducted with Madeline Trumble, who plays Mary Poppins in the Broadway Series touring production of the musical. Madeline is also Type 1. Can’t wait to find out how the meeting turns out:
http://www.theprincessandthepump.com/2013/04/a-spoonful-of-sugar-interview-with-t1.html
 
 
Finally, at ThePerfectD, you’ll find 17 Reasons for four hypoglycemic incidences in less than 18 hours the other day. Read this when you have enough personal space to laugh out loud:
http://theperfectd.com/2013/04/11/seventeen-reasons-for-having-four/
 
 
Hope your weekend is full of wonder and devoid of angst. Enjoy!
 
 
 

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And so it begins.

April 15, 2013 – 10:19 am

Okay… my clinical trial is underway! This is the trial I wrote about around a month ago.

This past weekend, I received my notice and started wearing the Dexcom™ G4 provided to me for the study. The first week, I’ll be responding to a survey, but other than that, not much to report at this time. Except that insertion of the Dexcom™ was remarkably easy and nice. The receiver is easy to use. I’ll probably do some sort of product review later on. For now, I’m just saying… all CGMs should be like this.

Of course, I have to get used to having one more robot part attached to me around the clock. And I have to actually remember that said robot part is actually attached, so I don’t rip it out putting on my shirt or taking it off. But this is what I signed up for, so if I can just keep my eyes off of the receiver (‘cause I’m obsessive-compulsive like that), I’ll be okay.

More to come as the study continues.
 
 
Speaking of surveys, April over at Nerdy April’s Space Adventures (which is about the coolest blog name ever) is working on her grad school capstone project. The title of her project is… wait for it…

Evaluating the Feasibility and Safety of Type 1 Diabetic Astronauts.

Seriously, it sounds that good. I’ve been thinking about it all weekend. You should go and read about it. Thanks to Scott Johnson for the tweet that turned me on to this post.

Hope your week is blasting off to a high-flying start!
 
 
 

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