Celebrating the holidays with that special insulin-deficient someone? Here are a few trinkets and treats that will bring a little extra joy this holiday season. The Myabetic line of bags are perfect for a PWD on the move, and they offer a slate of fashionable, functional, and fabulous options for women, men, and little kids affected by diabetes. My favorite…
Last week, I was happy to visit the dermatologist for my yearly skin once-over. I’ve written about skin things before (the one about melasma, and the weird toe, and dry skin like whoa), and lately, I feel like there have been more issues than usual. I blame the weather turning mind- blowingly cold all of a sudden, as my hands…
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…
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…
(Hahahaha I share this video every damn year, but I still like it because of the rabbit ears. Now I need to go find the rest of my holy forking shirt balls Bad Janet costume.) You might also like: Halloween Prep and Diabetes. Halloween Rules for Kids and Adults with Diabetes. Video: Diabetes Complications. Halloween Your FACE.
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…
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…
I get a flu shot every year. The practice was encouraged when I was pregnant with my daughter back in 2009/2010 and I have carried it through since. My whole family gets the flu shot. We do this every year, even though Birdy hates it and the little Guy is starting to become wary of visits to “the lady” (aka…
A lot rolling around in my head. It’s like a ball pit up there. My social media feeds are in EXTREME mode. (Wishing I meant More Than Words but sadly, I do not.) It’s either EXTREME politically polarizing stuff or EXTREME panic about environmental concerns or EXTREME stories about horrible things that people have been put through. I haven’t seen…
Blue Lagoonabetes
Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes Community, Psychosocial Support, Real Life Diabetes, TravelingWe made plans to go to the Blue Lagoon in Iceland before we had left for our trip, so I knew I’d be a little bit jet-lagged and a little bit moody about missing the kids, but I was excited to see this “wonder of the world,” where geothermal hot springs pool to create a steamy, cyan-colored bath. When you…