It is humbling to look in the butter compartment of my fridge and see insulin. It’s necessary. And I’m grateful. The out of pocket cost is upwards of $380 per bottle without insurance, and making sure our family has insurance coverage is our biggest worry in regular rotation. When job situations look dicey, my first concern is insurance. When there’s talk of storms…
You might also like: World Diabetes Day 2013. World Diabetes Day 2016. Perspectives on Diabetes: Why Children with Diabetes Matters. D-Blog Week: Change One Life, Change the World.
Non-Billable Hours: The Diabetes Stuff That Doesn’t Have Copays
Blood Sugars, Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes Products, Diabetes Videos, Real Life Diabetes, Robot LifeAt first glance, I manage my diabetes using an insulin pump from Tandem Diabetes Care, a continuous glucose monitor from Dexcom, Humalog insulin, and either the mySugr meter kit or a Freestyle one. All of these items require prescriptions and $$$ and involvement from my clinicians. But there’s a number of items that are used regularly to manage my diabetes,…
Last night looked like this: And today I feel like this: Which translates into a low blood sugar that Basal IQ couldn’t fully pull me out of, most likely the result of … I have no idea because I didn’t exercise more than normal, didn’t eat anything that required a shit ton of insulin, wasn’t feeling extra stressed, wasn’t possessed…
Non-Billable Hours: Purse Party
Blood Sugars, Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes Community, Diabetes Online Community, RelationshipsIt’s Diabetes Month – have you heard? There will be a ton of diabetes-related news circulating; you’ll see diabetes in the headlines and on the news. Diabetes is, dare I say? so fetch this month. Discussions about diabetes often seem limited, at least in the broader public forum, about blood sugars, weight gain or loss, and diet. Admittedly, a lot…
Non-Medical Switching
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes Online Community, Diabetes Tech, Diabetes Videos, Pumping Insulin, Real Life Diabetes“From the Alliance for Patient Access YouTube page: People with diabetes describe non-medical switching, where an insurer has pushed them to change insulin, pumps, meters or other medical necessities.” Being told to switch medications because the insurance company says so, not because the medical team recommends the switch, is a messed up situation. Clinicians and patients should be making those…
Rewind: Voicemail for my Pancreas
Blood Sugars, Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes Memories, Relationships(I’m traveling this week, with limited access and desire to visit the Internet, but while I’m on an adventure, I’m rewinding the blog to showcase some older posts. So don’t freak out if you see some older post about being pregnant or whatever because giiiiiiirl I am not pregnant.) “Hey, you. This is awkward. Voicemail. I hate voicemail. But I…
Rewind: Diabetes Food Lies
Blood Sugars, Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes Complications, Diabetes Online Community, Diet and Food, Exercise & Fitness, Mental Health, Psychosocial Support, Real Life Diabetes(I’m traveling this week, with limited access and desire to visit the Internet, but while I’m on an adventure, I’m rewinding the blog to showcase some older posts. So don’t freak out if you see some older post about being pregnant or whatever because giiiiiiirl I am not pregnant.) So many rules were slapped into place immediately upon diagnosis, with…
Rewind: Ordinary but Extraordinary
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes Community, Diabetes Online Community, Exercise & Fitness, Psychosocial Support, Real Life Diabetes(I’m traveling this week, with limited access and desire to visit the Internet, but while I’m on an adventure, I’m rewinding the blog to showcase some older posts. So don’t freak out if you see some older post about being pregnant or whatever because giiiiiiirl I am not pregnant.) I will admit right here, right now that I admire people…
Rewind: These Boots Were Made for Talking
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes and Family, Diabetes Community, Psychosocial Support(I’m traveling this week, with limited access and desire to visit the Internet, but while I’m on an adventure, I’m rewinding the blog to showcase some older posts. So don’t freak out if you see some older post about being pregnant or whatever because giiiiiiirl I am not pregnant.) At the airport two weeks ago, I was coming home from…
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…
Diabetes Club
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes Community, Diabetes Online Community1st Rule: You do NOT talk about diabetes. 2nd Rule: … just kidding, of course you can talk about diabetes. 3rd Rule: If someone says “I’m low” or goes limp, grab some Glucolift. 4th Rule: Only two CGM transmitters to an order. 5th Rule: One snack at a time. 6th Rule: No insulin, no bolus. 7th Rule: Diabetes will go on…
“What is that, on your arm?” Attempting to embrace the bathroom advocacy, I told the lady I have type 1 diabetes. “And this is an insulin pump. This part of the device holds the insulin,” – point to the black pump clipped to my bathing suit strap – “and the insulin goes into my body here. It’s a nice change…
Accidental blog hiatus. You know what that means … mmm hmmm. Bullet points. Children with Diabetes* Friends for Life conference took place in Orlando last week, concluding on Sunday. It was exactly the diabetes emotional and educational refresher I needed, and I’ll have more in terms of stories to share this week. But for the time being, you can check…
It’s Complicated.
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes Complications, SUM in Other PlacesThis month, in the most recent edition of The PLAID Journal, I contributed a piece about the complicated questions we get about diabetes, and how our answers are just as complicated. “Is diabetes hard? Yes. And no. There are times when I get mired in some of the tougher moments of diabetes, blowing up balloons by the dozen for a…
This was part of my daughter’s school work* last week: What about the thing that I am certain will happen today? I will have a rough blood sugar roller coaster. – nope. That’s not a certainty. Today’s been pretty mellow, to be honest. The temperature will be exactly 72 degrees and sunny today – nope. I live in New England….