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March DSMA Blog Carnival: My Superhero

March 21, 2013 – 9:39 am

I’m very flattered to have been asked to be a monthly contributor for the Blog Carnival over at Diabetes Social Media Advocacy. Beginning today, you’ll start to see me over there too.

Now on to this month’s question. It comes from a DSMA Twitter Chat not too long ago:

Disney just gave you funding to create a character with diabetes. What type of character would you create? What would you want your character’s message to be for adults and children living with diabetes?

When I looked at this topic, I realized that I needed some kind of special assistance to complete my project. I’ve never been good at creating things like this. So I went to the ultimate source of knowledge in the world… the internet. I mean, hey, if it’s on the internet, it must be true, right (he said, tongue in cheek)?

I typed “How to create a superhero” into my search engine and found multiple sites that list complete how-to guides on how to create a superhero. Some even provide software to let you piece together how your superhero will look.

Most of the sites I checked covered the same ground in their online tutorials. So let’s take these tasks one at a time and apply them to our super Diahero.
 
• Origins: Where does your superhero hail from? What about this makes him or her unique?
My superhero is born from a single healthy beta cell, originating in the obscure Islet of Langerhans, home of other beta cells in our pancreases. Being able to escape from this land of origin prior to the destruction of all of his fellow beta cells, he’s able to uniquely empathize with similar individuals who have suffered the same fate.
 
• Special Powers: This is delicious. What kind of superpowers does your superhero have?
My super Diahero has an amazing mind that can deduce insulin on board, current blood glucose, and the amount of carbohydrates on your plate. Then, factoring in insulin to carb ratios, exercise, and future basal rates too, he provides the precise measurement of insulin for any scenario.

Also, my hero has a great ability to educate and slay those troublesome diabetes myths. Don’t even try to mislead, or misrepresent facts: “You can’t eat that”, “You brought this on yourself”, and “You can’t have children” are all eradicated with split-second, persuasive action. Complete enlightenment is our hero’s hallmark.
 
• Weaknesses: What is our hero’s kryptonite?
Alas, our super Diahero is susceptible to the evil twin demons known as hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia. The hyperglycemia that makes him sluggish and irritable, thirsting for water but searching for the demon’s lair so BGs can be brought to mind at a healthy level. And the hypoglycemia that tries to turn his brain to mush, dulling his Special Powers until he is able to find the right combination of fast-acting carbohydrates (occasionally administered by his trusty sidekick, who sometimes takes the form of a Parent or Spouse, or another member of the League of Super Diaheros. Hey, it’s my superhero… I can create whatever I want, right?).
 
• Mission: Of course, our superhero needs a mission.
My superhero travels the world searching for other healthy beta cells in an effort to prevent those of his kind from being destroyed. And where they have been destroyed, his hope is that one day, a new, healthy Islet of Langerhans can be reborn in a Perfect Pancreas World that can live within all of us.
 
• Finally, our superhero needs a name. What’s your name?
No, really… what’s your name? Because if you’re living with diabetes, you know that living a meaningful life requires superhuman effort. You also know that it’s possible. And I hope you know that you can do it. To all my fellow People With Diabetes: You are my carb-counting, insulin-adjusting, educating, myth-busting, hypo- and hyperglycemia surviving, AWESOME Super Diaheros.
 
 
Mission accomplished.
 
 
This post is my March entry in the DSMA Blog Carnival. If you’d like to participate too, you can get all of the information at http://diabetessocmed.com/2013/march-dsma-blog-carnival-3/
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in DSMA Blog Carnival | Also tagged , , | Comments (4)

Yay Co-Workers!

February 18, 2013 – 9:54 am

From time to time, I’ve alluded to the fact that there’s been a somewhat tenuous relationship between my work and my diabetes over the years. In the early years of living with this disease, there weren’t really any issues. If diabetes got in the way at all, it was due to my A1Cs being high more than anything else. I might have been a little more sluggish during those times, but I was still able to function at a pretty high level.

Since those first few years, I’ve had an on and off, good and bad relationship between work and diabetes. At times, things were difficult. Tensions were occasionally strained.

So, what’s my point? Where am I going with all of this?

Over the weekend, I celebrated my 15 year anniversary at the company where I work. I thought about it a little in the last month or so. Whenever someone hits a milestone anniversary, the department gets together and does a thank you, gives a plaque, and then you go back to work. That’s great, but five minutes of feel-good doesn’t always wash away things that bother you for five years or more.

The good news is that in the last couple years, things have seemed to thaw a bit in this relationship. I don’t know exactly when things changed, although I think I know, and at any rate, I’m glad they’ve changed. I’d like to think that I’m a bit less sensitive these days too, and that helps.

Still, I felt a little… nervous about reaching this milestone at work. Kind of like some old demons were left that I couldn’t get rid of. So how do I take this thing that feels so uncomfortable, and turn it into something that feels good? The thought gnawed at me for a few weeks.

Then it hit me. Blue Fridays. Since my anniversary was on a Sunday, I would ask everyone to wear blue on the Friday before. I would also ask them to make a donation to the Diabetes Community Advocacy Foundation. You know… the organization behind the Diabetes Social Media Advocacy website, the DSMA Live and DSMA en Vivo podcasts, and the weekly #DSMA Twitter chat. I took the idea to my bosses, and they were all for it. Instantly. So I sent an e-mail to my colleagues in Baltimore, New York, and Connecticut, and marked it on my calendar.

The Baltimore crew. I'm in the back ( I thought I was tall)

The Baltimore crew. I’m in the back ( I thought I was tall)

When I got into work, and later as I watched people arrive, I would look around and see a sea of blue. To think that my co-workers would care enough to do this for me… it almost made me break down and cry. A co-worker shared with me that they were recently diagnosed with Type 2, and they were appreciative of an effort to elicit support for those who have to live with diabetes. That almost made me cry. Not everyone who donated online told me how much they contributed. But what I know of the contributions puts the total dollar amount into the hundreds.

That’s my work anniversary and Blue Fridays story. I never really thought about what marrying these two ideas would really mean. It went beyond what I could have imagined. I’m so glad we were able to do this. And I’m so grateful for the people I work with, who made my cause their cause for a day. Today, I feel really lucky to be part of their team.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Work and Diabetes | Also tagged , , | Comments (5)

January DSMA Blog Carnival… New Year with Diabetes.

January 29, 2013 – 10:44 am

Ohmygosh! It’s almost the end of January, and I haven’t completed my post for the January DSMA Blog Carnival. If you’re writing about your diabetes too, you should participate. Just write a post on the subject and link to it on the DSMA Blog Carnival page.

This month’s blog carnival topic asks us to fill in the blank:

New Year with Diabetes : Striving for _______ in 2013

To be honest, I could have taken the easy way out and used my January 2 post this month. But that post really talked about my life overall, and what I would like to accomplish this year to be a more well rounded person. Since we’ve still got a few days left in January, I’d like to narrow down my focus to just diabetes here.

I think what I’m striving for in 2013 is a continuation of what I started in 2012. I want to get out there and get engaged with the rest of the world. A few times in the past year people have asked me about my story… you know, the “tell us all about your diabetes” story. Each time, I found myself describing this sequence of events where I was diagnosed, went off to live my life, and kind of lived in the woods with my diabetes, so to speak. Not doing anything to help anyone, not learning anything new, not knowing much beyond what I knew on the day of diagnosis. But since last year, I’ve been trying to change all that.

I want to find my way out of the woods and into a place where I can get some clear footing with my condition. I want to learn about new therapies, new ideas. Converse with others going through the same issues and share valuable information, because together we are worth more than the sum of our parts.

In 2013, I’ll be striving to get my diabetes out into the sunshine, and I’ll be trying to help others do the same. I hear it’s warm out there.
 
 
This post is my January entry in the DSMA Blog Carnival. If you’d like to participate too, you can get all of the information at
http://diabetessocmed.com/2013/january-dsma-blog-carnival-2/
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in DSMA Blog Carnival | Also tagged , , , | Comments (2)

48 Things that make me… Me.

January 17, 2013 – 9:43 am

Okay, so Cherise at Diabetes Social Media Advocacy started this thing yesterday, and I was too busy to steal it for a post of my own. Others have done this, and I encourage you to read them and possibly post your own answers somewhere too, including here if you like. So better late than never… here are 48 things you may not know about me:

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
I was not.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
When was the last time I watched “It’s a Wonderful Life”?

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
I have great penmanship… don’t try to decipher my note-taking, however.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Is pit beef a lunch meat? Then YES. That’s my favorite.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
No kids. Always wanted kids.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
Yes, of course! ‘Cause I need all the friends I can get.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?
Oh, you want to talk politics now?

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
No! Tonsils removed when I was four years old… in 1966. In those days, they had you stay in the hospital for like five days after the operation. I still remember it. Creepy.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
I am sooo afraid of heights. But I would bungee jump. I like to confront my fears. And scream my head off through the whole process. The screaming releases the fear.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Raisin bran. Plain enough for you?

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
Almost always.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?
This requires a “body of evidence” answer. If you asked me if I feel strong right now, I would say no. If you asked me if I’ve been strong over the last 22 years with diabetes, the answer is definitely YES.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
From the store: Edy’s rainbow sherbet (monster high carb effect, by the way). And Trader Joe’s pumpkin. So pumpkin-ey.
Specialty brand: Black Cherry from Graeter’s in Cincinnati.

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
Whether they’re open or closed. Will you talk and be nice even if we seem to be different on the surface? I can usually tell within ten seconds.

15. RED OR PINK?
Red, Red, Red.

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
That I’m getting older. Can’t do anything about it, so I don’t think about it much.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
All of my nieces, nephews, great nieces, and great nephews. Kids are still our future and worth every effort we can make for them. Even if some of them aren’t kids anymore.

18. WHAT IS THE TECHNIQUE THAT YOU NEED TO WORK ON THE MOST?
Remembering. Everything. Everything.

19. WHAT COLOR SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
Simple black dress shoes. Honed to a bright sheen.

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
Grits and turkey sausage for breakfast this morning.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
Buckwheat Zydeco Radio on Pandora. Didn’t see that one coming, did you?

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
Burnt Orange. Or Indigo.

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
Bacon, bacon, bacon!

24. HOW IMPORTANT ARE YOUR POLITICAL VIEWS TO YOU?
Important enough that I care deeply, not important enough to hurt someone over… figuratively or literally.

25. MOUNTAIN HIDEAWAY OR BEACH HOUSE?
Both please.

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
Baseball on a summer day or night. Horse racing on a spring day or night. Both offer long periods of inaction punctuated by amazing moments of thrillage. I read something like that somewhere.

27. HAIR COLOR?
Brown.

28. EYE COLOR?
Blue.

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
Nope. Glasses. When I can find them.

30. FAVORITE FOOD?
Steak please.

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
Happy endings.

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
Men in Black 3. First straight-to-video movie I’ve ever watched. Same story… different characters.

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
Your average plain white dress shirt. With a sensible green tie. Sounds worse than it is.

34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Unquestionably summer.

35. FAVORITE DESSERT?
Key Lime Pie. Or Cherry Pie. Or just Pie. Or Baklava.

36. STRENGTH TRAINING OR CARDIO?
Cardio, with just enough strength training now and then to keep me honest.

37. COMPUTER OR TELEVISION?
Slowly but surely moving from the television side over to computer.

38. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
One Shot at Forever: A Small Town, an Unlikely Coach, and a Magical Baseball Season by Chris Ballard. I need a “no-thinking” book now and then.

39. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
That question is so 90’s. I don’t need no stinkin’ mouse pad.

40. FAVORITE SOUND?
Anything involving a baseball.

41. FAVORITE GENRE OF MUSIC?
I love all music. When it’s played by actual instruments. And not lip-synched.

42. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
Kilkenny, Ireland, 2004. Such wonderful, friendly people.

43. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
Ahem… Yes. Yes I do.

44. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
Cincinnati, Ohio USA on April 9, 1962. Reds Opening Day, and my father had to give up his ticket. They lost anyway, Dad.

45. WHERE ARE YOU LIVING NOW?
Baltimore, Maryland USA since September, 1994.

46. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR HOUSE?
Just your average brick Cape Cod.

47. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR CAR?
I have a bright red truck.

48. DO YOU LIKE ANSWERING 48 QUESTIONS?
These 48 questions are fun. I’m not sure I’d like 48 questions about my job.

Thanks Cherise. And Happy Belated Birthday! It’s been a good exercise to help clear my mind. Now I can start working on where I left that #@**%!! meter this time.
 
 
 

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

December DSMA Blog Carnival. Diabetes in 2012.

December 21, 2012 – 10:23 am

I have the privilege of guest posting over at Diabetes Social Media Advocacy for this month’s Blog Carnival. This is the second time this year they’ve graciously put my post up on their site. And although I don’t mention it below, both times have been major highlights for me this year. Thanks DSMA!

This post is my December 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/december-dsma-blog-carnival-2/

(See what I did there? I didn’t wait to put the link at the bottom of my post. Just call me a rebel. Or not.)

The final installment of the DSMA Blog Carnival for 2012 is seeking input on something you might expect at this time of year:

Take a moment to reflect on diabetes in 2012 – on a personal level, on a community level, on a technological level, anything you can think of. What things stand out to you the most? What did 2012 and Diabetes mean to you? You can even take the challenge one step further, and post a collage of your Year in Diabetes!

Well, my blog only has only been around for a little over eight months now… but still, what a year.

On a personal level, 2012 can be described as the year when I became reacquainted with the diabetes community at large. I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ll mention it again: I spent a long, long time living my life on my own, not knowing about or paying attention to how others with diabetes were doing. That meant that, for instance, when I had a tough time managing glucose during or after working out, or I couldn’t figure out how to talk to my endocrinologist about my A1c, I thought I was the only one who ever had these problems. In the last half of 2011, I found the Diabetes Online Community and realized that I am not living in a diabetes bubble.

So I started a blog. But I continued to do a lot of reading. In doing so, I found out a lot about new products that are coming to the market. I’m just guessing here, but I think we may look back on 2012 as the year just before some big breakthroughs in diabetes care. To be sure, not every product we read about this year was given rave reviews. But some were. If you can, think back to how you saw these products reviewed this year: Tandem’s T:Slim insulin pump, Medtronic’s MySentry, Roche’s Accu-Chek Nano, the iBGStar from Sanofi, and GlucoLift glucose tabs.

What does this mean? For me, it means that there are a number of companies out there working to bring helpful products to the market that will be meaningful to people managing their lives with diabetes. Working with them in some cases are organizations that are providing input during the development phase and feedback once the product is in the marketplace. Sometimes these initiatives are resulting in better stuff; sometimes they are not. In every case, it seems, there are plenty of people in the DOC who are not shy about saying what works and what doesn’t. Whether companies embrace the idea or not, it’s pretty clear that there’s a kind of collaborative effect working to bring us better products producing better results. Or to discount wild claims about products that aren’t cutting the mustard. In future years, I’m guessing, companies will be even more aware of the power of social media as an information-sharing tool as well as a marketing tool.

My year included a visit to Maryland JDRF’s annual meeting in June. At that meeting, I heard a talk from someone with the University of Virginia’s Center for Diabetes Technology, who spoke about their work on the Artificial Pancreas Project, which JDRF is helping to fund. I got so excited about that talk that I wrote about it. Later, I was invited to an open house at the center where I learned more about the AP and even held the device in my hand. Definitely a highlight of my year. In November, the FDA released important guidance on development and testing of the Artificial Pancreas. Could 2013 (or 2014?) finally be a breakthrough year for the AP in the United States and beyond?

The Artificial Pancreas Project wasn’t the only JDRF-related event for me this year. I underwent mentor training, meeting some very dedicated individuals in the process. I rode 65 miles in the Tour de Talbot bike ride here in Maryland, which benefited JDRF and allowed me to meet Team Type 1 athlete John Anderson.

What haven’t I done? I haven’t gotten together with a support group yet. I’m trying, but I just haven’t been able to make that connection. So that’s near the top of my diabetes list for 2013.

And I don’t think I’ve done enough advocacy this year. Now, I’m still a relative newbie in the blogging landscape, so I’m still figuring out how to have a voice that extends beyond my home page. But I definitely have my eyes open for a great advocacy effort that goes beyond what I’ve accomplished so far. Blogging and Twitter are great, but they won’t last forever. And we don’t live in our hard drives (though those low glucose moments sometimes make us feel like our hard drives have crashed).

It’s been a remarkable year. I’m so excited about what this year has done for me and my diabetes. But, as always, I’m looking forward to the future, for changes that will benefit all of us. Changes that will cost us less and give us more access. Changes that will give all of us a chance to live the full, unrestricted, meaningful lives we’re meant to live.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in DSMA Blog Carnival | Also tagged , | Comments (3)