Being diagnosed with diabetes as a child twists time, making me feel like I’m not terribly old but that my diabetes is ancient and withered. Looking back at an online journal that chronicles almost half my life with diabetes paints me as a digital dinosaur, one whose story and community has evolved in response to time, technology, and ability. The…
Dino Days
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes and Family, Diabetes Community, Diabetes Online Community, Psychosocial Support, Real Life Diabetes, RelationshipsVictoza for T1D: A Few Weeks In.
Blood Sugars, Diabetes Products, Psychosocial Support, Real Life DiabetesI’m on my fourth week of Victoza. Here’s the good, the bad, and the reminder that none of this even remotely resembles medical advice for the love of Loopy. THE GOOD: My numbers have been excellent. Truly excellent. And I’m the last person who is going to post perfect CGM graphs all the live long day because I have always struggled…
A Look at Body Posi Betes
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes Community, Diabetes Complications, Diabetes Online Community, Psychosocial Support, Real Life DiabetesA few years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Georgie Peters when I was visiting Australia. This woman is a force – a combination of positivity and raw honesty, writing about her lived experience with type 1 diabetes. She’s written here before and today she’s visiting SixUntilMe to talk about her latest social movement of combining body positivity and diabetes….
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…
That’s Not My Pancreas!
Diabetes and Family, Diabetes Poetry, Psychosocial Support, Real Life DiabetesMy home is awash with children’s books, and I keep making the diabetes versions in my head. It’s a hard habit to break. Which brings me to today’s post, a parody of the “That’s Not My …” series of books that have taken over the little Guy’s bookshelf. This one is called “That’s Not My Pancreas!!” …
There’s a coffee shop near where I live that I frequently work from (known as my “fauxffice” to my friends). I’m there at least once, if not twice a week, and I bang away on my computer while drinking too much coffee and not making enough insulin. A lot of the time, I remain focused and tuned into my own…
In the course of my experiences as an advocate for diabetes, I’ve had people ask me what my parents did to help me become a well-adjusted adult with diabetes. And after I stop laughing at the clearly loose definition of the phrase “well-adjusted,” I realize that I have the support of my friends and family to thank for my diabetes…
“Instead of mints, we’d get glucose tabs.”
Blood Sugars, Diabetes and Family, Psychosocial Support, Real Life DiabetesBEEP! BEEP! BEEP! “Mom, is your blood sugar low?” I checked my pump and saw the Dexcom low alarm flagging me at 64 mg/dL and dropping. “Yeah, I am.” “But we just had breakfast?” My daughter knows that I take insulin for the food I eat, and couldn’t reconcile why I’d be low after breakfast. “We did, but I forgot to…
Seven Versions of One Low Blood Sugar
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes Community, Diabetes Online Community, Psychosocial Support, Real Life Diabetes, RelationshipsSCENARIO: A blood sugar of 53 mg/dL caused me to wake up at 2 am, drink a juice box, and stay awake until 2.30 am waiting for my blood sugar to rise. DESCRIBING TO MY FRIEND: “Yeah, sometimes diabetes is a thing at night. I had a low last night that woke me up around 2 am, but that’s why…
The Gray Area
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes and Emotions, Mental Health, Psychosocial Support, Real Life Diabetes“Diabetes makes you a hero! You’re pinch-hitting for a busted pancreas, and you’re kicking ass! Nothing can stop you! Climb mountains, run marathons, compete, destroy threats, take no prisoners! The world is your oyster, and even with a busted pancreas, you remain the pearl!” We see that. Or we hear … “Diabetes will eat you alive. Busted pancreas is only…
Designing for Diabetes: An Interview with Natalie Balmain
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes Community, Diabetes Online Community, Diabetes Products, Psychosocial Support, Pumping Insulin, Real Life DiabetesNatalie Balmain is a fashion designer from England, and the creative force behind Type 1 Clothing. She was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 20, and this was ultimately her inspiration behind her debut line, designed to help people manage their multiple daily injections more easily and wear insulin pumps more comfortably. Natalie has raised money for…