Tag Archives: DOC

Meeting Mike Hoskins.

April 7, 2014 – 9:38 am

I made my yearly trek to Cincinnati recently. I grew up in Cincinnati, and for the last four or five years, thanks to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, I’ve been making the trip at this time of year to celebrate that most Queen City of holidays, Opening Day.

One of the great benefits of the journey the last two years has been the opportunity to make a side trip to Indianapolis to meet diabetes friends. Last year, I got to meet Cherise Shockley in person for the first time. This year, I got to sit down for lunch with Mike Hoskins.

MHoskins

For those who don’t know yet, Mike is a writer for Diabetes Mine, and he also has a blog of his own, called The Diabetic’s Corner Booth. On top of that, he’s also one of our brave Champion Athletes with Diabetes medal winners.

For someone like me, who grew up in the midwest, having lunch with a guy like Mike Hoskins is like having lunch with one of my brothers. I’ve changed a lot in the last twenty years since I’ve moved to the east coast, but there’s still a lot of me in Mike’s mannerisms, and in the way he speaks.

I enjoyed hearing his stories, though in retrospect, I did pepper him with too many questions. We talked about his recent pump decision, telling our stories online, our spouses and parents, work and diabetes, and phones (I’m considering an upgrade and I need all the advice I can get). All in all, it was too short. Especially since I had trouble with a detour in the Indiana countryside and wound up getting there late.

In case you’re wondering, in person meetings with others who are living with or affected by diabetes are worth their weight in gold. I came away from a simple lunch chat with a great feeling that I can’t really explain. But it made the trip more than worthwhile. So if you know of someone near you or where you’re going, and you think it might be nice to meet that person, don’t wait to reach out. Make that connection. I promise you it’s worth it. That’s my Monday advice.

Mike, thanks for lunch! Hope all the days in Indiana this year are as sunny and warm as last Tuesday.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Travel | Also tagged , , | Comments (3)

Book Review: Balancing Diabetes.

March 26, 2014 – 9:13 am

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I see a lot of people have written about Kerri Sparling’s book, Balancing Diabetes. Of course, everything I’ve read so far has been from people who were also contributors to the book. So if you will, please allow this independent voice to tell you what I thought about this 200 page offering from Spry Publishing.

I’ve met Kerri Sparling, but I don’t think it’s fair for me to say I know Kerri. My limited exposure to her tells me that what you see is what you get. She’s friendly, helpful, direct, unafraid to take on a delicate subject, and articulate in a way that makes you feel you know exactly what she means. It’s why her book does not disappoint.

In Balancing Diabetes, she covers a number of subjects, including the transition of responsibility of a child’s diabetes from parent to daughter, living the college life, relationships (both platonic and romantic), parenting, exercise, and the various devices we wear.

Now, I have to be honest: There are a lot of subjects in the book I don’t know anything about. College life? I wasn’t able to finish (money), and never lived away from home while going to class. Having children? We always wanted kids, but could never make it happen (money again). But there are plenty of subjects that speak directly to me, in a way that only another person with diabetes can tell it.

There are plenty of people (heroes?) with diabetes that do tell their stories in the book. You’ve probably read or heard of most or all of them. Getting these special people to lend their voices to the project was a stroke of genius. So however you come to the diabetes conversation, there’s someone in there that speaks your language on your subject.

And just like she does on her blog at Six Until Me, Kerri weaves her literary magic throughout each chapter. I especially liked:

– Page 17 “And that’s it–that’s totally it for me” (Chapter One: Making Sense of the New Normal)

– The first paragraph of Chapter Nine (Walking the Blood Sugar Tightrope)

– Every word of Chapter Ten (Fitting Diabetes Devices into Daily Life) and Chapter Eleven (Bringing Your Diabetes to Work)

– Page 193 “Fear is not the best motivator for me” (Chapter Sixteen: Finding Balance and Moving Forward)

Who is this book’s target audience? It’s too easy to say everyone… But yeah, everyone. I think especially if you’re one or two years past diagnosis, this will help you get a handle on the “Okay, I’ve got the day-to-day down… What about the rest of my life?” feeling. Also, this is probably a good primer, a reference book, if you will, for people to look at every now and then when they need a one-of-a-kind perspective from someone who’s been there.

I also think this is a super resource for people in the orbit of someone living with diabetes. Parents, significant others, co-workers. I suspect they would all find this book eye opening and extremely informative.

So if you’re wondering whether it’s worth it, my answer is yes. Go get this book, via Amazon (or Kindle, of course), or wherever else you can locate it. You’ll enjoy reading it, and you’ll want to keep it on the shelf for years to come.

Move along… there is no disclosure to see here. I bought the book, I read it, and all opinions are entirely my own.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Reviews | Also tagged , , | Comments (4)

People are talking: #JDRFSummit Part Three.

March 5, 2014 – 9:53 am

Saturday I was one of the many at the extremely well-attended JDRF TypeOneNation DC Research Summit, in suburban Washington. Lots of updates on research all over the diabetes spectrum, and a chance to interact with some of the attendees. Including one I was able to meet for the first time. There was an awful lot packed into one day, so I’ve broken it out into three days of posts. Monday, I covered the morning’s presentations. Yesterday, I covered the afternoon talks. Today, my interactions with summit attendees and a DOC meetup!

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One of the great things about attending an event like this is being able to interact with others who share some of the same experiences in life. If you’re really lucky, you get to meet someone you know… you know, in a sort of “Hey, there’s a famous person! I read everything they write!” kind of way. I got to meet someone like that on Saturday:

Kelley-Summit

Kelley Kent writes over at Below-Seven.com. I got to meet her and her husband Chris. Kelley has a great story to tell, and she’s a beast of an athlete. In the last year alone she’s completed a 5K run, an 8K run, a 10K run, a 10 miler, a triathlon, and 2 half marathons. All while spending her 20th year living with diabetes. In fact, Kelley is our 9th Champion Athlete With Diabetes medal winner! Look for her story here soon.

You’ll often see Kelley on the Wednesday night #DSMA chats on Twitter, and she’s one of the most friendly and supportive members of the DOC (Diabetes Online Community) that I know of. If you don’t know her, you should reach out. You’ll be happy you did. I really wish that I had spent more time with Kelley and Chris. But that’s my problem, not yours.

There were a couple of conversations I had on Saturday, right at the table where I was sitting. To my right was a person, around Kelley’s age, living with Type 1 and planning a long, 5 day climb this year. Big trip. She expressed some worries about how to maintain a good balance with her BGs while working so hard on the climb. I turned my iPad toward her and pointed at Kelley on my Twitter feed.

“This person here?… This is Kelley. She’s here in the room today. She’s an amazing athlete. She’s completed a number of events in the past year, and I’ll bet she could give you some great advice”.

Then I downshifted into the “there are thousands of D-people online, and there’s always someone who’s gone through what you’re going through who could help you a lot” elevator speech. She quickly wrote down Kelley’s Twitter info and put it in her purse.

See what I did there? I just made the diabetes community bigger. Kelley, I hope she reaches out to you very soon, if she hasn’t already.

To my left Saturday was a family… Mom, Dad, and their daughter, in her early twenties. The daughter was sitting directly to my left. Unfortunately, Dad was a little too eager to give details about his daughter, and how she’s managing her diabetes. He couldn’t seem to understand why it was so hard for her.

I had to remind him that diabetes is always hard, even on the good days. And even if we do everything exactly the way we’re supposed to, we’re just one forgotten bolus, or one bad infusion set away from a high BG. I definitely had the “A1c is just a number, a reference point” discussion. I told him how the important thing is to use what you’ve experienced to help you in the future, but also to concentrate most on doing the best you can from this point forward.

I got a little chance to talk to the daughter. She’s smart, I can tell. There was this amazing handout I picked up at one of the vendor tables that day (I don’t know which one—it was mobbed, so I just grabbed the flyer and moved on). It was put together by Hope Warshaw, and it looks like this:

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At one point while we were talking, I pointed at the flyer she had with all of the other things she collected that day. I said, “Do you ever go online and visit any of the places on that handout?”. She had not. Hadn’t heard about any of it. As I looked at her, I could see myself a few years ago, feeling lost, feeling alone, feeling like whatever my life was like then was how it was going to be, and that’s that. Overwhelmed by the diabetesness of it all.

I mentioned some of the places I thought she might find useful, but I also remember telling her that just about anyplace mentioned on that flyer would be a great place to start. I told her to reach out… people will respond and support her, because there isn’t anyone online who hasn’t gone through what she goes through every day. And I told her how the Wednesday night #DSMA chat is often the highlight of my week. Hopefully, I didn’t come off as some sort of old guy nut going on about things she doesn’t care about. I hope she finds a place where she feels like she belongs. I know that place is out there for her in our community.

You know, I think that’s the first time I’ve ever had conversations like that with other PWDs. Every so often, you need to get out from behind your PC or mobile device and sit down with people who understand you, and who can remind you what’s important, and who can help you remember that you’re not the only one out there, and it’s okay to support and encourage. It’s been a cold winter in the Mid-Atlantic. I was glad to have found a bit of warmth on the first day of March.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Events | Also tagged , , | Comments (2)

Happy Thanksgiving 2013.

November 27, 2013 – 9:50 am

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It’s a tradition in our family that every year at this time (the Thanksgiving holiday here in the States), we pause and mention something meaningful in our lives that we are thankful for. We go around the table, and everyone, young or old, optimistic or pessimistic, offers a Thank You for something significant.

Today I offer a giant Thank You to the Diabetes Online Community.

If you knew me, really knew me, you’d know I’m a very jaded individual. I never expect things to be as good as advertised, because they never are. My experience tells me that.

I know the DOC is growing larger by the day, and that’s good. The more voices we can add to the discussion about living with this chronic condition, the better. I do not expect those voices to always sound the same, or be focused on the same thing. I realize that even in the pursuit of positive things we can all agree on, sometimes personalities will clash and feelings will get hurt. Since the community is growing larger, it seems more likely that we’ll encounter an opposite viewpoint from time to time, or even an outright troll now and then. After all, one percent of 100 is 1. One percent of 10,000 is 100.

But I also know what my life was like before I discovered this thing, whatever it is. I know how I felt. I know how alone I felt. Like the saying goes, loneliness is everything it’s cracked up to be. What’s weird from my viewpoint is: I’m usually okay with doing things on my own; but doing them with understanding and support and encouragement from others in the same boat? It’s a lot easier, and it’s worth more to me than I’m capable of describing right now.

I could list hundreds of individuals and organizations that have made such a difference for me over the last two plus years. I would, if I had another couple of weeks to list them all. The list is that long. On the other hand, I think I could list maybe… maybe… two who I am less than enthusiastic about. But even those two are important to me, because in the end, they want what I want too. And in nearly every critical comment, I see at least one small thing I need to examine with a fresh eye, consider with a different viewpoint.

So on this Thanksgiving 2013, to the Diabetes Online Community, let me say:

Thank You—Gracias—Merci—Arigato—Danke—Toda—Mahalo


The world, in fact, is big enough for all of us. Thank you, DOC, for making it big enough for me.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Social Media, Support | Also tagged , , | Comments (1)

One thing at a time.

October 18, 2013 – 9:10 am

Great #DSMA Twitter Chat this past Wednesday night. There was lots of discussion about things we can, or should, do offline in addition to our online activities. Well, what can we do?

What can we do to help others living with and affected by diabetes? The Diabetes Online Community is great, but not everyone knows about our wonderful little fast lane on the information superhighway. How do they find out? And how do we make a difference for others outside of our online cocoon? Oddly, it’s often offline that people learn about online information, support, and understanding. And it’s certainly where many grass roots efforts make real differences for those in need. For me, that’s where connecting with people has made a huge difference. But in the abstract, it can seem overwhelming. When you break it down into little bites (or bytes), however, it’s not so big at all. Let me explain:

You see, when I think about it in general terms, I have trouble believing that I’ve made any impact at all offline. Yet, when I consider single, one-at-a-time events in my life recently…

– At a JDRF meeting nearly a year and a half ago, I saw a presentation that led me to connect with others, that has led to participation in one clinical trial, and hopefully another before the end of the year, that have the potential to help others living with diabetes.

– A blog post after superstorm Sandy compelled me to send extra durable medical supplies to people in need in New York.

– Thinking about my 15th anniversary at work this year inspired me to do some fundraising and #bluefridays support.

– Talking to my endocrinologist about my writing here has led her to give information about my blog to a few patients who, I hope, have connected beyond this page to a larger world of support and enlightenment.

– Going to in-person support group meetings, though rare, has allowed me to share what I’ve learned and discovered, online and offline, with people who have suffered burnout, stress, problems with insurance, and issues with understanding medical technology.

– And offline meetings like this one and this one and this one have helped me recharge my D-batteries, learn things I didn’t know before, and thaw my feelings toward my fellow man and woman in ways that I didn’t think was still possible.

Listen… I’ve only been at this blogging thing for a year and a half. I only discovered the DOC two years ago myself. I’m still a relative newbie at this thing. All of the things you see above are little things, small increments of change in my life that did not happen all at once. They happened because I thought, “Hey, why not? I can’t do everything, but I can do this one thing.”

My message here is: One thing at a time. Then one thing more. Then one thing more. You don’t have to invent something all on your own. None of the things I mentioned above were original ideas. They were things I saw that others were doing, and I thought I could maybe do them too. Eventually it became a body of support and advocacy that looks like I did a lot all at once, when it was really just one small thing at a time.

That’s how movements happen. It’s how the stone gets moved. That’s how small things become big things, and how big things become a groundswell, a steamroller that makes our lives meaningful and overwhelms indifference and apathy.

”You must be the change you wish to see in the world”—Mahatma Ghandi

Who are you, and what is your one thing?
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Advocacy | Also tagged , | Comments (0)