The words we casually use as people with diabetes continue to make me giggle. Like when I was a kid, my mom would casually tell me to go “shoot up,” (instead of “go take your insulin dose”) … the looks we received in public settings included a lot of arched eyebrows. Or how, during days when I have my insulin…
The Words We Use as PWD
Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes Community, Diabetes Online Community, Healthcare, Real Life Diabetes(Ew, ew, ew I, too, am a little horrified by the title of this post. I promise to keep the puke references to a minimum.) Friday night, I went to bed feeling fine. Blood sugars were excellent – 90 mg/dL and stayed that way straight until around 7 in the morning. But at 2.48 am, I woke up feeling like…
Nothing structured about today’s post. Totally winging it. I had an endo appointment a week or two ago, and things are holding steady there. My weight continues to go in the right direction (baby weight is finally gone, working on just getting fitter), my blood pressure was great, my nerve appear to still be nervy, and my A1C is stalled…
Diabetic Health Journal GIVEAWAY
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes Products, HealthcarePOST EDIT: The giveaway is closed and the winner has been notified. Thanks!! Lauren Bongiorno is a virtual diabetic health coach, entrepreneur, and author of the Diabetic Health Journal. Lauren coaches and creates resources for people with type 1 diabetes all over the world to achieve optimal diabetes management and feel strong and empowered. Lauren’s practice is rooted in her…
Trapped by Shipments and Timeouts
Blood Sugars, Diabetes Products, Diabetes Tech, Healthcare, Psychosocial Support, Real Life Diabetes, Robot LifeDay-to-diabetes requires a lot of focus on timing: what time did I take my insulin, what time did I eat, what time will I exercise, what time will I be in a meeting, what time am I planning to go to bed, what time will my insulin and my food seemingly serendipitously meet somewhere in my body, mapping out into…
friendo (n.) – An endocrinologist who brings expertise, experience, and engages with a high level of empathy. ex. “My endocrinologist is kind of my friend. And my endo. They’re my friendo.” Last week, I had my quarterly visit with my endocrinologist. Our clinician/patient relationship is still in its fledgling stage, and we’re definitely still getting to know the pros and…
Instagram has been awesome for making connections to artists, designers, and other craftspeople who inspire, and today I have the chance to highlight someone whose work I’ve been admiring for months. Holly Allen, the Witt ‘n Whimsy jewelry entrepreneur, has stopped over to SixUntilMe today to talk about her work, her connection to the patient community, and to announce a…
Visualizing Diabetes
Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes Complications, Healthcare, Mental Health, Psychosocial Support, Real Life DiabetesLast week, I had the pleasure of connecting with Katie McCurdy through my work at The Patient Revolution, and she and I talked about her health visualization tool, Pictal. (That interview can be found on the Patient Revolution blog.) From the article: “Pictal is a set of worksheets that patients can use to create a health history timeline and show…
Great Job! Stellar! You’re a Star!
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes Community, Healthcare, Real Life DiabetesMan, all of this. The big mountain that is “the healthcare system?” That thing seems gigantic. But small changes make a big difference. I think about the stickers I used to get on my school papers back in grade school. The happy, bright yellow star grinning its toothless grin at me, delighted by my spelling homework. It seems goofy to…
A wicked little tickle in the back of my throat. Some nausea. No fever, but checking it ten times a day to make sure still no fever. A massive headache. Blood sugars stuck around 130 – 180 mg/dL but not too spikey. No ketones. My anxiety is pretty damn peaky these days, and the aggressive flu season isn’t helping take…
“You have a nice bedside manner. I don’t feel stupid being honest about the health concerns I have. And I don’t feel like you’re judging me when I tell you my A1C went up; that makes it easier to be honest with you about where I struggle.” “I really appreciate that,” she said. I’m in the process of switching to…
(Seems appropriate to write about the flurry of resolution and organizational ideas in my head as a frigging blizzard mows through the Northeast. There’s over 14 inches of snow outside. The cats remain a combination of unsettled and putting on their cat snow gear to go sledding.) The new year turned while I was dealing with a freak eyeball injury,…