The Corner Booth

You may recall a guest-post last August from Michael K. Schwab , a fellow Person With Diabetes in central Indiana who created what became known as the Beta Cell Bash. Founded by Mike in 2004 along with Greg and Tracie Mrakich (who are also type 1 D-musicians here locally), the bash was created to raise awareness and money through music and art to improve the lives of those affected with type 1 diabetes. Well, the Beta Cell Bash went to the curb a handful of years ago. But thanks to some prompting from The D-Corner Booth , Mike decided to bring back the Beta Cell Bash for 2012 . That is happening this Friday, March 2. A night of art, music and fundraising for the Indiana chapter of the JDRF. The event kicks off at 6 p.m. at Blue Wren Studio (in the Fountain Square District of Indianapolis) with an art show/silent art auction. You can check out some of the artwork here . The address is Blue Wren Studio -Murphy Art Center, 1043 Virginia Avenue, Suite 214 , Indianapolis, ...

On a recent weekday morning not too long after I arrived at the office, I opened up my briefcase to grab my blood meter case to do a test. It wasn't in there, in the regular spot it's at in the middle of the bag. Thinking back to the busy workday before and how the evening was a hectic one at home, I realized I must have pulled it out for a test at some point and left it at home. Luckily, I keep a backup case in my desk with a meter, lancing device and strips. So, I pulled that out to do a test - but saw that apparently I'd taken out the backup vial of strips at some point and didn't replace them. Backup plan, foiled. I reflected back to a recent blog post I'd written earlier in the week about the times when our D-Backup Plans Fail , and smiled at how I wrote that just a few days before this very situation came up. And looking at my Dexcom, I saw the same ??? from earlier in the morning. Plus, my blood sugar felt high. Figures. It was a busy day and I couldn...

You never know when you’ll need a backup in the daily life with diabetes. Blood meters might be forgotten on the way out the door, so it’s good to have a backup. Test strips vials might be empty or down to one or two strips – not enough for the full day. Lancets, pump supplies, extra batteries for insulin pumps, a bottle of insulin and syringe. My desk and briefcase are stocked with these backup supplies. For those Just In Case moments. Sometimes, I’ve used my backup strips or pump supplies and then forgotten to replace them – it happens. But I do my best to make sure the backups are not going to go the way of failing when they’re actually needed. Heck, I even have an extra phone charger that I carry in my bag just in case my battery life needs a boost to make it through the day. Because seriously… who can live without a cell phone these days? Preparation is the key, and I like to think I’m pretty prepared with a backup plan and even backups to my backups in som...

In the spirit of Heart Day that came and went on Tuesday, I decided to highlight a moment that illustrates just how awesome my Loving and Supporting Spouse truly is. Some wrote odes to their pancreas (pancrei) or said it aloud , while others sent some wishes to fellow DOC members or special people in their lives. Many bought candy and chocolate or did dinners and special surprises that they reported about online. Not me. That’s not how I roll. Whether we shared in any of those traditional aspects really isn’t what I wanted to write about. Wanting to include my own online tribute or story about @TypeSuzi , I decided to focus on a little moment we had in our Life With Diabetes not too long ago. These happen from time to time, but this was a first on a couple different fronts. Being an insulin pumper and CGM-wearer, every few days presents the task of having to change out at least one of those sites or sensors and insert a new one on a different part of body real estat...

A few days ago, I returned to work after a two-week vacation. That gobbled up my time during the day, as it should. Personal time outside the office has been mostly focused on home tasks, following our recent move into a new house and all the issues associated with that. So only now am I getting around to an update on my vacation and some of the highlights. Better late than never, or so “Those Who Don’t Grasp The Concept of Deadlines” once said. Not taking an annual camping trip in Summer 2011 as we often had in the past, this meant I had accrued about 11 days that needed to be taken before my upcoming anniversary. So, it was a great time to get back into the routines that I’d fallen out of in the past year or so – reading my Bible every day and starting off my morning with a walk of the dog and some positive mental thoughts. Not to mention some quality time with Mind Ninja . More than enough headache was spent trying to navigate the crappy Comcast coverage and customer service w...

With a couple weeks of accrued vacation time that needed to be taken from work, I've had the chance to head back to the home-state and hometown for a few days to visit with family and friends. So here I am, in Michigan - swimming in nostalgia and getting some needed relaxation before heading back to Indiana. Of course, diabetes never takes a break no matter what's going on. And thanks to the unifying power of insulin pumps, I managed to meet a new friend by chance while out for a haircut. On Wednesday, I went to get a haircut. My dad goes to this regular place and that's where I planned to go, but instead I ventured around the area nostalgically and settled on a different haircut establishment that I felt was just as good. Going inside, there was only a minute or so wait and soon I was walking on back to get the hair trimmed. As I sat down in the chair and prepped to tell the young lady what my head mop needed, she she glanced at my waist and said, "You have an insulin...

As mentioned in a previous post about Beginning Again and Moving Forward , I’ve started seeing a counselor to help combat my depression. Like a friend and fellow D-advocate recently described it, I’ve taken the step to seek this help and take the metaphoric pill to wake up and see things as they really are, not as I’ve tricked myself into thinking everything really is in a dim, depressing light. I contemplated clever names that might be appropriate to use in referring to this nice, very-insightful LCSW. Being a movie-buff, I thought about using Dr. Leo Marvin from “What About Bob?” but decided against that. After some thought about how her mind task is to help me ninja-kick my mind into a better place and sort through all the jumbled mess up there, I settled on Mind Ninja. Because, let’s face it: If I need to be a D-Ninja, then I need a Mind Ninja on this team. In a sense, it’s like I’m a ship in the darkened night-time waters trying to find my way to shore. The light-house isn’t e...

"Most men, even in this comparatively free country, through mere ignorance and mistake, were so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously course labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be plucked by them." - Henry David Thoreau, Walden Simply, we can get so preoccupied and busy with acquiring material goods and wealth - with working our jobs to earn a paycheck - that we don't take time to appreciate the finer things in life. The beauty and riches of nature unfolding before our eyes. The point: Live, Laugh, Love. So, I'm turning off the computer now and going outside to walk the dog.

Happy Birthday, to me. This time, it's #33 ( no, that's not a hashtag... ) Let me rephrase, in non-Twitter lingo: Birthday Thirty-Three. What am I going to do? Well, probably nothing too extravagant, by extravagance's standards. Birthdays have passed the point of really being all celebratory, especially those that fall in the middle of a week. As it happens, I've taken some vacation days at work and am currently not obligated to focus on the real job. This totally wasn't designed to coincide with my birthday, it just happened to work out that way. Woke up to a blood sugar of 104 - which was an outstanding start. Made myself a bold and spicy blood mary - because I can. Did some writing, scanned some headlines, and took the dog for a walk. Other than that, I'm tacking some personal projects, some home tasks, and whatever else might need to happen. I have a Diabetes Youth Foundation of Indiana board meeting this afternoon. Not much else on tap. Oh, but ...