Tag Archives: diabetes blogs

Like these links.

June 6, 2012 – 6:50 am

Yet another Hump Day is upon us… here are a few looks at some other d-bloggers with something to say:
 
 
It seems like Mike Hoskins over at Diabetes Mine has something insightful every week. This week, he’s talking about the delicate balance (my words) between being a blogger advocate and a blogger bloviator. And the delicate balance between using the power of the law to protect, and using that power as censorship. Interesting food for thought:
http://www.diabetesmine.com/2012/06/caveman-blogger-lawsuit-raises-important-censorship-questions.html
 
 
Scott Strange of Strangely Diabetic tells the tale of how he became an advocate. It’s not all pretty, but there’s some great points made here:
http://strangelydiabetic.com/2012/06/05/and-this-one-time-i-told-my-cde-youre-fired/
 
 
How ’bout a book review? Jess at Me and D has a review of an inspirational book she found in the clearance section at the bookstore. Inspiration– and Strength– can be found in the unlikeliest of places:
http://www.meanddblog.com/2012/06/finding-our-strength.html
 
 
Enjoy the rest of your week! Hope your week just gets shorter, and easier, from here on out.
 
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Like these links | Also tagged | Comments (1)

Like these links.

May 31, 2012 – 6:34 am

I usually do this on Wednesday, but since Monday was a holiday, Thursday is good enough. Here are a couple of interesting posts I’ve found in the last couple of days:

Brian at (Buzz, Buzz) Not My Cell has a review of the book This Side of Normal, which chronicles the life of a newly diagnosed 12 year old:
http://notmycell.blogspot.com/2012/05/review-something-i-dont-normally-do.html

Wil over at Diabetes Mine has another review of the FastClix lancing device from Roche Diabetes:
http://www.diabetesmine.com/2012/05/new-fastclix-now-easier-on-your-brain-while-still-sparing-your-fingers.html

Finally… Stacey of Girl with the Portable Pancreas has a recap of her time at Diabetes Sisters Weekend for Women (like they’re going to do a weekend for men?). Not for me, but not everyone who reads this blog is male, right? This post is actually over at DLife:
http://www.dlife.com/diabetes/lifestyle/diabetes-women/diabetessisters

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Disclaimer
I have no medical training. If you consider anything written here as medical, legal, financial, or any other kind of advice, you’re out of your mind. Please speak to a learned professional before making any changes that might affect your health. Any of the original content found on this site is my property and should not be reproduced, copied, or otherwise used without the author’s expressed written consent.

By StephenS | Posted in Like these links | Also tagged | Comments (0)

May DSMA Blog Carnival.

May 24, 2012 – 9:44 pm

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while now, and judging from the lack of posts on this topic, I’m not alone. You’ve got just about a week to get your entry in for the May Blog Carnival at Diabetes Social Media Advocacy:

Diabetes can sure be expensive. Insurance can help take away some of the financial burden, but sometimes the things we want, or even need, are not covered by insurance. With that in mind, we turn back to our April 18th chat to Fill in the Blanks on the following sentence . . .

I wish my insurance company paid for _________because ______________.

I wish my insurance would pay for more education, more products, and more care for those who cannot afford to pay for their own care.

Let me explain what I mean: First, we know there are many PWDs who either have no access to insurance, or access to high-cost care that is still more than they can afford. We must do what we can for them. It’s not fair that I have access to care that I can still afford (though it’s getting costlier for the same care every year), but others do not. Meanwhile, a quick check of the Carefirst home page (Carefirst is the local Blue Cross carrier in our area) shows that they were involved in providing over $11 million in grants in the last four months for various causes. One of those is an $8.5 million grant over three years to help fund 12 health care centers that provide care to those who don’t have access elsewhere. A check of Aetna’s website (Aetna is my carrier) shows that the company had $1.97 billion in operating earnings last year. Don’t you think that these two companies, plus a few others, can provide a lot for those without care? Just a fraction of that money can make all the difference for someone… or many someones.

How about education about eating right and carb counting? The importance of testing your glucose level? Learning the mathematics of BG and carb counting in relation to insulin bolus? Simple things that you or I know by heart. But those are things that someone without access to care is only guessing about.

Maybe the answer is providing low-cost or no-cost insulin to those who can’t afford it. And among those who can’t afford it, I count those who hoard their insulin, taking less than what is optimal, so they can conserve their precious life-saving resources. And speaking of hoarding… while we’re at it insurance companies, can we stop quibbling over how many test strips are appropriate per day? None of us are using them just for the fun of it.

I don’t have all of the answers… maybe you have some of your own. Feel free to leave them in the comments section. I just know that insurance companies can still make a lot of profit, while helping those less fortunate. That’s the very definition of a win-win proposition. Can we make this happen? What do you think?

This post is my May entry in the DSMA Blog Carnival. If you’d like to participate too, you can get all of the information at http://diabetessocmed.com/2012/may-dsma-blog-carnival-2/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Disclaimer
I have no medical training. If you consider anything written here as medical, legal, financial, or any other kind of advice, you’re out of your mind. Please speak to a learned professional before making any changes that might affect your health. Any of the original content found on this site is my property and should not be reproduced, copied, or otherwise used without the author’s expressed written consent.

By StephenS | Posted in DSMA Blog Carnival | Also tagged , | Comments (0)

Like these links.

May 23, 2012 – 9:56 am

Happy Hump Day! three more ’till the weekend. Or two, depending on when you’re reading this. Anyway, I know a lot of DOC folks have been riffing (is that spelled correctly?) about their experiences during Diabetes Blog Week, and the super posts that everyone wrote.

I was particularly inspired by many who wrote on day 5 about “What They Should Know”. From Karen at Bitter~Sweet:
“What is one thing you would tell someone that doesn’t have diabetes about living with diabetes?”. Let’s do a little advocating and post what we wish people knew about diabetes. Have more than one thing you wish people knew? Go ahead and tell us everything.

Every one of the posts I read were great… they made me think, laugh, and choke up. Here are some of my favorites:

First, from a couple of Mikes:
Everyday Ups and Downs
And Mike Hoskins at Diabetes Mine

This was the first time I had a chance to read a post at
DeeJay’s ‘Betes
And
Liz at Welcome to My Diabetic Life

Finally… I have to admit that I don’t read much from Moms of CWD who post, for a number of reasons. But these two are well worth reading more than once.
Our Diabetic Life
An American in Dublin

These are just a few of 137 great posts on this topic! I left myself off of the list. I’ve got some work to do to express myself as well as the links here. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Disclaimer
I have no medical training. If you consider anything written here as medical, legal, financial, or any other kind of advice, you’re out of your mind. Please speak to a learned professional before making any changes that might affect your health. Any of the original content found on this site is my property and should not be reproduced, copied, or otherwise used without the author’s expressed written consent.

By StephenS | Posted in Like these links | Also tagged | Comments (1)

Diabetes Blog Week: Day 7– Super Dia-Heros.

May 20, 2012 – 8:17 am


 
Today is the final installment of Diabetes Blog Week. Special thanks AGAIN to Karen Graffeo at Bitter~Sweet for hosting this inspiring event. Why is it inspiring? Well, for me, I have read many (read: hundreds) of posts that were waaaaaay better than anything I’ve written this week. They were all posts that inspired me. Inspired me to live a better life. To care more about those less fortunate. To advocate, to speak for those who are unable to speak for themselves. To write a better blog.

Thank you to all of the d-bloggers out there who make made my posts look like a grocery list this week.

That said, I’m going to punt on today’s post. I’m going to re-post something I wrote on this subject a few weeks ago.

But before I do, I want to add to the super dia-heros list you see below. In the original post, I forgot to mention the Maryland Transit Authority Police, who helped me through an extremely dangerous low I experienced about a year ago on the subway home. They were fantastic, and they even met me later, off-duty, to deliver my meter and my pump, which I lost in the incident. In short, they saved my life. How can you thank someone enough for that? Can’t believe I forgot them in the original post.

Now, to the previous post:

Super Dia-Heros.

The world needs more Superheros!

I suppose so. But I can think of a few Superheros that I would like to retire… as soon as possible.

The Great Spousal Unit is a Superhero (Supershero?). She’s always got my back. In the middle of a road trip, or in the middle of the night, she’s always there when I have an issue. For all 21 years of this disease, she’s been a rock. I would like to give her a break. She’s earned it after all these years. I don’t want her to worry about me anymore. Without me asking.

The Live-In Niece has been terrific. I’m the first, the only, diabetic she’s ever known. Or known about. She knows nothing of hypoglycemia or ketoacidosis. But she asks a lot of questions. And she never makes me feel bad for being a pain in the ass because I had a low or I’m mad at the diabetes today. Without me asking.

Prior to the Live-In Niece was the Live-In Nephew. My Godson. Probably the relative I’m closest to. And diabetes freaks him out. But when he was confronted by something that freaked him out, he was able to help me. Without me asking.

I’ve had a couple of crappy doctors over the years. But I’ve had a couple of super ones too. That’s you, Dr. Mowry in Cincinnati, who originally diagnosed me after two doctors couldn’t be bothered to take the time; and you, Dr. Pao in Baltimore, who speaks my language and gets me thinking about adjustments to make things better, instead of always staying the same with lesser results. Thank you, thank you.

Thank you Diabetes Online Community. For the first time in I don’t know how long, I feel validated. Can’t tell you how much it meant to find out that others have the same experiences, the same hurdles, the same highs and lows. I not only feel validated… I feel more confident that I can live in this world. That I belong in this world.

Where would I be without JDRF and ADA? Your advocacy has brought us countless advances in care, support, and on, and on, and on. It’s easy to take you for granted. But these two groups are full of thousands of Superheros.

And what about the companies that have developed technology or drugs to help us continue to live a life that means something? Medtronic, Animas, Dexcom, Novo Nordisk, Aventis. That’s right… I’m givin’ props to you, big Pharma. I’ve made it as far as I have in part thanks to you.

There are many Superheros in my diabetic life (Diaheros?). But I would like to retire all of you. I hope that soon, very soon, you can find the time to focus on someone else. Another cause. Or maybe a vacation. In the meantime, thank you sooooo much for being my Superheros.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Disclaimer
I have no medical training. If you consider anything written here as medical, legal, financial, or any other kind of advice, you’re out of your mind. Please speak to a learned professional before making any changes that might affect your health. Any of the original content found on this site is my property and should not be reproduced, copied, or otherwise used without the author’s expressed written consent.

By StephenS | Posted in Diabetes Blog Week | Also tagged , | Comments (0)