The Corner Booth

We are now at the end of Diabetes Blog Week 2014 . Boo... (sad face)! Once again, it's been a lot of fun writing this week and seeing all the great contributions from so many in the Diabetes Online Community. Thanks can't go out enough to Karen Graffeo , who came up with and coordinated this whole concept five years ago and has made it happen each year since. It's nearly impossible to condense into a single thought what I love the most about D-Blog Week, but I have to say it's just awesome connecting dots and being able to find so many voices you might not normally have seen in the blogosphere. Personally, I love the more creative takes on each prompt and so those are the ones that stick out in my mind the most. But every single one is awesome, because it's straight from someone's heart and mind and that's powerful. Finding those new D-peeps online is great, as is connecting with old friends and seeing different spins on each topic. Earlier in the

So the topic for Diabetes Blog Week today is: Diabetes Life Hacks. Um.... right. Like this?! It IS Blue for Diabetes, right...?! #BlueFridays Does look like some good blood sugar-lowing exercise... Hmm. Probably not what Karen had in mind for this topic. And you probably don't want to go all Hacky Sack with your diabetes devices (even if you want to)... Bolus this, you b*st+rd...! No Dex, I TOLD you to stay in-range...! Probably not a good idea to use an insulin pump or CGM like that, even if they do provoke and urge you to kick them sometimes... So yeah, aside from what I mentioned elsewhere today and all the other D-peeps out there sharing their own D-Life hacks, I've got nothing more on this. Happy Blue Friday!

It's now the fourth day of Diabetes Blog Week . And the topic: Today let’s share what gets us through a hard day.  Or more specifically, a hard diabetes day.  Is there something positive you tell yourself?  Are there mantras that you fall back on to get you through?  Is there something specific you do when your mood needs a boost?  Maybe we've done that and we can help others do it too? Music makes me feel a whole bunch better. Yes, cranking up some tunes and letting myself sing along is a mood-booster for me. And for diabetes, there are some specific songs that do the trick. Here are a few tunes on my soundtrack to a better diabetes mood...

What brings me down when it comes to diabetes? What's the toughest on my emotions? And how do I and the rest of my family cope? That's the Mental Health prompt for this Third Day of Diabetes Blog Week 2014 , and it's also the theme for the whole month as it's Mental Health Awareness Month. There's a lot to be said about the psycho-social aspect of D-Living, and this is an issue I've been dealing with myself over time so it's very personal for me. Two years ago, I stared down my demons and called them out , then did what I had to do in order to trap them in a dark hole and get on with my life. People in my life and the Diabetes Online Community were integral parts of being able to get a handle on my life after it seemed like I'd fallen down that dark hole of depression. Especially those who've shared their own stories of dealing with diabetes and depression, like my good friend Scott Strange who has been an inspiration and fellow warrior i

Welcome to Day Two of Diabetes Blog Week 2014 ! Today's topic, as Karen puts it over at BitterSweet Diabetes : This year, Diabetes Blog Week and TuDiabetes are teaming up to bring out the poet in you! Write a poem, rhyme, ballad, haiku, or any other form of poetry about diabetes. After you’ve posted it on your blog, share it on the No Sugar Added® Poetry page on TuDiabetes, and read what others have shared there as well! I'm actually excited about this prompt, as I get to channel my inner-poet that really doesn't get much practice these days. With so much journalistic news coverage and blogging, my creative writing and poetic genes haven't been worked out much in the years since college... That's how I got started writing, with a Batman-inspired short story back in third grade called "The Diamond Men." And as the years rolled on, poetry was my passion.... pretty much up until high school and college, when journalism became more of a priority. I

Hooray, Diabetes Blog Week is here once again! This is the 5th consecutive year where the online D-community hits the blogosphere to write about the same topic all at the same time. Thanks to Karen for once again coordinating the week's prompts and getting it all together. Today, it's about Changing the World through Advocacy. I'm all for D-advocacy, but this isn't the place you'll find a blog about that today. No, there's plenty of other blogs for that. There's a list here , and hell I even have an official-like post over at DiabetesMine today. Or, just try Google'ing "Diabetes Advocacy blogs" and see where that takes you. No, today I'd rather explore the human condition. Specifically, how this whole online world is screwing with our ability to actually have real, human interaction with people. Yes, it's apparently making us feel more lonely and may be messing with our brains ! This past weekend, I was up in Southe

My blood sugars have been all over the place lately. Whatever the numbers actually are, my Dex G4 has been showing off those colorful trends of where my blood sugars are at: Red = Low Yellow = High. White = In Range Or, as we say it in my house: yellow is mustard, red is ketchup, and those ideally-white lines are mayo. The Mayo-to-Mustard Threshold If memory serves, I believe this actually all goes back to a conversation with Kerri at a conference sometime last year where we were talking about... well, who knows what. But I just remember she mentioned Ketchup and Mustard, and from that point on, I've been unable to look at my Dex lines the same way. And I am always hoping to see those white in-range numbers (aren't we all?). "I'll take my blood sugars with mayo. But hold the mustard and ketchup, please." Apparently, my body isn't listening.