Today is my birthday, and I’m hoping if you’re reading this entry, you know that my goal has been to make a difference for people with diabetes. My pancreas tapped out, but a mission tapped in, and I’m trying to do more good. In keeping with that hopeful theme of doing more good, I’d like to ask that you consider…
Today kicks off the 2018 Spare a Rose campaign, and I’m revisiting a post from 2015 because it illustrates why we should, and how easy it can be to, make a difference. * * * “Mom, what is that rose?” she asked as colored at the kitchen table. “It is part of a thing I’m working on that…
(A post from the past, but still relevant, as my pancreas remains lazy.) Oh rotting, feeble pancreas of mine, Won’t you be my Valentine? Won’t you wake from your long sleep And make some insulin, you creep? What makes you sit, all shaped like a wiener, Lazy and dull, with a pompous demeanor? What makes it okay, that for your…
I’ve been writing this website for almost twelve years. The support, advice, and camaraderie I’ve found in the diabetes online community has made the last twelve years with type 1 diabetes among my healthiest and most successful. The supply of insulin carefully tucked away in my fridge, along with access to an excellent medical team and the financial means to…
Scrolling through a newsfeed these days can be downright painful. There’s not a lot of happiness or success being highlighted, and that can take a toll on your mental health. What can you do to make a difference? There is something you can do. Something you can do this minute. And your actions have the power to save the life of…
Spare a Rose 2016: Final Totals.
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes Community, Diabetes Online Community, Insulin, Real Life DiabetesIn 2016 the diabetes community, both online and off, made a huge difference for children with type 1 diabetes in developing countries. This year’s Spare a Rose campaign raised $25,331 from 537 donations, saving 422 children. Read that again, please? Four hundred and twenty-two children. Through the endless generosity of people in this community, donating their time to share the…
Sunday is Valentine’s Day, and marks the end of this year’s Spare a Rose, Save a Child campaign. There’s lots of love going around this weekend; will you share your affections in a way that will last all year? Flowers end up in the garbage can. Fancy dinners are digested. And chocolates, ironically, require a hefty dose of insulin. …
Low blood sugars have become moments that scare me more now than they did when I was younger, mostly because the symptoms of my lows have all but disappeared until I’m deep into the 40’s. It’s shocking to my system to have that gentle lag and foggy confusion suddenly open into the abyss of a properly symptomatic low, bringing about…
Today, people will be watching a football game and cheering on their favorite team (and my mother will be in a sports fan version of mourning because the Patriots are not playing). I want to remind you that it’s all fun and Big Games until someone loses an islet. (Yes, another diabetes post. On a diabetes blog! Go figure.) Even…
From February 1 – 14, the diabetes online community is hosting our annual Spare A Rose campaign. You remember that one, right? The one where you send eleven roses instead of twelve on Valentine’s Day, taking the value of that saved rose (averaged out to $5) and donating that to the International Diabetes Federation’s Life for a Child program, which…
Guest Post: #SpareARose and Symplur.
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes Online Community, Guest Diabetes Blogger, Psychosocial Support, Real Life DiabetesI’m late with today’s post, but it’s a good one. 🙂 This afternoon, Chris Snider of A Consequence of Hypoglycemia has contributed a guest post about Symplur and the Spare a Rose, Save a Child campaign. It’s an in-depth look at how the stats of the #sparearose hashtag campaign influenced the spread of the message. This post is an interesting…