The Corner Booth

Even kitchen appliances have diabetes on the mind, it seems. One evening recently, my CGM sensor died. Time to start a new one... But I didn't want to. So, I procrastinated. Did whatever, and soon enough decided to have some some leftover coffee. Grabbed a coffee cup from the cupboard and poured some cold coffee into it, then proceeded to heat up said cup of java in the microwave. And that's when I saw it: Yes, that is a #BluntLancet coffee mug in there... When heating up my coffee, in a BluntLancet mug displaying the " Error 5 - Not Enough Blood " message. Apparently, the microwave knew I needed to change my CGM sensor. So it told me so with a message of its own: " Sensor Error ." I glared at it. "Who told YOU?!?!" I demanded. The microwave didn't respond. A cold, judgmental staring contest ensued. Slammed the microwave door shut, to teach it a lesson. (sigh) Diabetes is everywhere. Even the cof...

It's an honor to be writing here from the perspective of a D-Wife, though it's nothing glamorous. It's just our life, what we know and do, and I hope that someone can get something out of what is shared here. We've been married for six years this September (2011) but have been together for about 10 ½ years total. From time to time, I have tried to write my story down. But really, I find my life rather boring and hard to write about. No children yet, except the furry kinds who rule the Hoskins Household. So here it is, in a nutshell: I'm the one ... Who is not a blog writer, but has many random thoughts that may or may not present themselves in list form. Who loves seafood, but found out the hard way that I'm allergic to it. Who is the shortest in my family, but is tall enough so that my feet touch the ground. Who loves to garden and play in the mud, but hates to get dirty. Who wishes my pets had opposable thumbs, instead of a wagging tail that knocks stu...

Newspapers and "the media" makes mistakes all the time. Particularly when it comes to covering diabetes. The most recent example can be found in one of my own local weekly newspapers, The Southside Times, and a columnist named Wendell Fowler. The Diabetes Community has responded in force to the original column July 15 , the response column July 22 , and publisher's letter . Everyone has pointed out how Fowler and the newspaper basically sacrificed accuracy to fuel a particular message. In doing so, the writer and publication dragged a local organization's name and reputation down and then failed to specifically apologize for that. Rather, both defended the premise of what had been originally been written and went on to blame the readers for "misunderstanding" the point - and went on to say it was all opinion and everyone is entitled to theirs. No. I'm sorry. That's not what journalism is about. If you're a newspaper or media outlet it's y...

This is the 21 st anniversary of the landmark civil rights law known as the Americans with Disabilities Act , which guarantees equal opportunity for those with disabilities in employment, public accommodations, transportation, commercial facilities, and telecommunications, and state and local government services. President George W. Bush signed this into law on July 26, 1990. Borrowing the definition of "disability" from Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the ADA aimed to stop employers from making employment decisions based on a person’s current, past, or perceived disability. Diabetes traditionally fell under that umbrella of protection for nearly a decade, but sadly starting in about 1999 the Supreme Court of the United States dramatically scaled back the ADA definition to the point where it didn't protect certain individuals, such as those of us with diabetes. Basically, the Court ruled that someone could be considered too disabled by an employ...

A newsletter came in the mail the other day from our local county-owned hospital. This is a place that I haven't been to in years, the last time being for a non- D emergency about five years ago. I saw an Endo affiliated with this hospital back when we'd first moved to Indiana in 2004, but that was only for a couple years and I later switched to a different Endo affiliated with a larger hospital outside of the county we live in, but closer to our home than where this county hospital is located. But despite those changes, I continue to receive semi-regular mailings from the county hospital. I glance at most of them, flipping through and reading about whatever the local health-care topic may be. Then toss them in the recycling bin. The latest newsletter for Summer 2011, called Focus on You , grabbed my attention immediately. This wasn't tailored for me specifically, it was just a newsletter the hospital sends out to all those on the mailing list. But it did apply specifically...

Totally don't care what the carb-count on this is... It's damn hot outside, demonstrated by my recent Tweet on Thursday: "Mental image of vanilla ice cream cone (from fair earlier in the week) melted into a messy puddle as I stepped outside into the 100+ degree heat. Total buzz killer." So, stay cool. Enjoy some ice cream BECAUSE YOU CAN ( assuming it hasn't melted in your hand or dish because of an extreme heat wave... ) Avoid those ice-cream haters and blamers. Oh, and have a Happy Friday and good weekend. Peace out.

Given that I've now completed my first decade of being an insulin pumper, I'm at a crossroads on what to do next. Should I stay or should I go? Temporarily, that is. Though I'm a fan of insulin pumping, it does take a toll on my mind and body. The signs are evident whenever I pull up my shirt and examine my stomach where I most often put my infusion sets. Last year, I took a several-month hiatus to give my mind and body a break and it did wonders. I wrote about it then, but I'll reiterate it again: In a way, this Pump Hiatus was "freeing" in the sense that I could walk around unconnected and unhassled and just do a shot whenever I might need to consume some carbs. Multiple Daily Injections worked well for me, and that period between March and September resulted in my A1C dropping by a whole % point! It was pretty cool! But don't get me wrong: I LOVE insulin pumping. The more detailed control. The D-Math it helps you with. The constant stream of insulin a...

This is my 10th year of insulin pumping. So apparently, this marks a milestone Pump-A-Versary in my D-Life. We met for the first time in June 2001, the summer just before my final semester of college and one of the busiest times of my life. After 17 years of two to four injections a day, I gave up those daily syringe meetups for a piece of technology. A device that promises to provide a constant stream of insulin throughout the day, and some extra boosts when needed for food or other variables. An exact day isn't marked on the calendar, but it was mid-year and warm and I remember getting my intro to pumping while wearing shorts. My Minimed pump rep was a fellow PWD, a cool guy who later went on to work at Deltec Cozmo and helped convince me to try that product out for a bit. Much has changed in the past decade, from the pump itself ( early Minimed versions, upgrades, a switch to the Cozmo briefly, then back to MM Paradigm ) to the style of supply needed to make it work. We've ...

Updating what I wrote a week ago, the 22nd Annual Ice Cream Social in Indianapolis on July 8 was a huge success! Consider this update the "official" public relations-friendly account of the vent, rather than the past post expressing my disgust at one's critic's response to the ice cream social. Put on by the American Dairy Association of Indiana, this event on Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis is reportedly the state's biggest ice cream social and takes place as part of National Ice Cream Month. Not to mention it happens in the Hoosier State, that produces the second-highest amount of ice cream nationwide. ( Some fun ice cream tidbits can be found over at this blog , such as the history of ice cream dating back to 4 B.C.! ) For only $3, visitors could enjoy a bowl of Edy's "good stuff" light ice cream with various Smuckers toppings - including sugarfree chocolate, caramel, and strawberry. This has been going on for more than 20 years...

The third Roche Social Media Summit brought JDRF CEO Jeffrey Brewer to join us for a lunch-time discussion. His talk reinforced what I'd experienced a few months back during the JDRF Government Day in D.C . when meeting and hearing him speak for the first time: This guy "gets it" and he's doing what is needed to make this organization more inclusive and effective for all of us in this community. From what I observed from many in the room is that they agreed, if the nodding heads and twitter-comments expressing approval were any indication. Some highlights I took from Jeffrey's talk: Name revision: from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to just the general acronym-centric JDRF. This isn't as drastic as it could be, but it represents a shift that keeps the four decade old foundation while simultaneously eliminating the word "Juvenile" in order to be more inclusive. Moving forward, there will be a new logo, new messaging, new tag line. New...

The 22 nd Annual Ice Cream Social on the Circle is happening Friday! Sponsored each year by the American Dairy Association of Indiana, this event celebrates National Ice Cream Month and recognizes the Hoosier State’s #2 ranking in U.S. ice cream production. It happens on Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. For just $3, guests can indulge their taste buds with gigantic sundaes made from Edy’s Slow Churned Light Ice Cream and drizzled with Smucker’s chocolate, strawberry, caramel, or butterscotch syrups. Sundaes will be served by more than 30 “celebrity” scoopers that include local media personalities, sports notables and business dignitaries - including Tony Hoard of America’s Got Talent . All the proceeds this year go directly to the Diabetes Youth Foundation of Indiana, which runs the only D-Camp in Central Indiana and supports, educates and encourages young people with Type 1 diabetes. ( Disclosure : I am a DYFI board member. ) So, if you ha...

In the couple weeks since the third Roche Social Media Summit in San Diego , I've been wearing the blue bracelet that say Act On Diabetes NOW. These were passed out by the International Diabetes Federation, and I've been wearing it to work and around generally to keep that whole aspect of the summit fresh on my mind and as a reminder that it's time to make a difference. This has been a conversation-starter with some people, but mostly the bracelet has helped me keep an important message in my heart from slipping away from the mind. Not that it'd be easy to forget the IDF presentations at the recent summit. For me, one of the most moving aspects of the whole experience was the dinner-time presentation by IDF president Jean Claude Mbanya . He spoke passionately about the outrage he has on the fact that so many people and children die worldwide from diabetes, simply because they can't get access to insulin. As a result, people die simply because of where they'...

Today I am living it up guest-post style for Kim, getting the chance to spend some time Texting My Pancreas while she's off having a blast at this year's Friends for Life conference in Orlando. I'm sad to not be joining some friends for all the fun, but am honored to have the opportunity to chime in here short of being there. In good form, the chosen topic this round is some food for thought about Wall Corners & Cartwheels - or simply: the joys of insulin pumping in the workplace. Enjoy! And please, drop some comments while you're over there! Yes, You CAN do this!

It's Independence Day in the United States of America. And so, my Patriotic Pump has a message: Happy Birthday, U.S.A. Displaying again the patriotic skin first shown a few weeks ago on Flag Day, my Minimed 722 is being all deja vu-like and recycling some of the thoughts from that day. Cool cover created by Medtronic's SkinIt . Here's another view... All in the palm of your hand.  And another... With stove and egg timer in background...   And so it is ( again ). On the evening of July 3, we spent time with two group of friends both outside and inside our neighborhood.  One neighbor wasn't familiar with my Type 1 diabetes, but we ended up discussing paramedics visiting our home - (it's happened, from time to time). That led to a general D-101 talk about carb counting and pump use, and I was able to show off my American Flag-decorated insulin pump. It stole the show, and impressed all. So, it was a great day of fun and fireworks festivity and fr...