D-Blog Week: Diabetes Life-Hacks.

I feel like the beginning of Diabetes Blog Week had so many prompts that really tapped the emotionally-saturated side of my diabetes management that I’m spent.  But I didn’t want to phone it in today for the last weekday post, so I’m pulling myself up by the bloggy bootstraps and putting my hacker hat on.  (Damn, Gina – that sounds like a complicated metaphorical outfit.)

For today’s blog post, centered on diabetes life-hacks, here’s a compilation of “sum” (OH HA?) diabetes hacks from the past:

• “My presentation was anchored in the ‘Living Well With Diabetes’ track, and I homed in on the tips, tricks, and hacks that people with diabetes are using to streamline a cumbersome disease.”  This one is about the diabetes hacks presentation I gave at the IDF held in Melbourne last winter.
• Can’t hear your Dexcom alarms?  Stick the receiver in a glass!
• In a glaaaaaass!!
• Or you could make use of some really cool earthquake apps designed to alert people to earthquakes … so why not also alert them to lows?
• Looking to keep your pump in a unique spot?  How about your sock?
• Here’s a great tape to help keep your Dexcom sensor, or other medical devices, stuck.
• Dealing with an adhesive rash?  A Toughpad might help.  Or an inhaler.
• Looking to keep your diabetes supply stash lean, but still useful, while running?  Use your shoes.
• It’s okay to wear your pump in your bra.
• Or to build a pocket for your insulin pump into your wedding dress.
• You can even hack your insulin pump to upload 80’s songs as your alarms.
• There are makeshift ways to protect your insulin vials, too.  (I’ve bought a few of these from Amazon.)
• Dress up your glucose meter case by departing from meter cases entirely.

I like “diabetes life hacks” because they make it easier, and more streamlined, to actually live with diabetes without succumbing to all the rules.  I don’t want to work my life around my diabetes; I’d much rather work diabetes around my life.

But the ultimate diabetes hack, IMO?  Is from Dana and Scott, who are creating their own do-it-yourself-pancreas system.  Necessity is the mother of invention, for real when it comes to life with diabetes.

Hack on!!

You might also like:

D-Blog Week: Diabetes Poetry. D-Blog Week: Change One Life, Change the World. D-Blog Week: What Brings Me Down … and Then Back Up.