The Corner Booth

The Diabetes Community got a quick and unwanted snap of harsh reality last Friday when Asante Solutions, makers of the innovative Snap insulin pump, suddenly announced they were closing up shop. With no advanced warning, we learned that the newest and quiet novel diabetes device that's only been on the market for two years will suddenly be no more. Asante posted a virtual "Closed for Business" sign on its website at the end of the day Friday (May 17, 2015) and that brief post pretty much served as its public notice of what happened. The ugly reality is that no matter how good a device may be, or how great a company's ideals and its people are, diabetes care is a business  and sometimes the financial side just doesn't work out. RIP, Asante Snap. Now customers are left scrambling, calling distributors to find out how supplies might be available for the now-discontinued Snap pump. That's a total of anywhere from 500 to 1,000 people already us

Mmmm, food. That's the topic of Day 5 of this Diabetes Blog Week 2015 . Taking a cue from Adam Brown's recent post , write a post documenting what you eat in a day! Feel free to add links to recommended recipes/shops/whatever. Make it an ideal day or a come-as-you-are day – no judgments either way. (Thank you, Katy of  Bigfoot Child Have Diabetes for this topic.) We have been trying to eat healthier and tone down our carb intake, a combination of overall interest in just losing weight and being healthy but also for me to navigate blood sugar swings that so often accompany carb-saturated meals. I've been inspired by D-peeps sharing more of their stories, and it's been a slow process putting this into practice... one mostly hindered by my lack of willpower. But, that's a work in progress and we do our best each day. As this morning began, I realized two things: 1. I hadn't prepared a post for today, and 2. No clue what I was going to eat throug

This is Day 4 in this year's Diabetes Blog Week . The topic: Change . Today let's talk about changes, in one of two ways.  Either tell us what you'd most like to see change about diabetes, in any way.  This can be management tools, devices, medications, people's perceptions, your own feelings – anything at all that you feel could use changing.  OR reflect back on some changes you or your loved one has seen or been through since being diagnosed with diabetes.  Were they expected or did they surprise you? OK, this is a little too serious for my taste today. I don't want to talk about that oh-so-serious something I'd change in the world of diabetes. There are many things: CGM Availability for all who want it, Global Insulin Access, Insurance Coverage Navigability, Public Awareness, blah blah blah. It's all important. And stuff I advocate for - just not today. Yes, I feel like I've seen a good amount of change in the 31 years since my T1D diagno

We are prepping for a move back to Michigan , where we were born raised. This comes after 11 years of living in Indiana. During that 11+ years, we've moved three times -- from an apartment, to our first house, to a smaller house. All within a couple miles of each other. The last move from a bigger to smaller house presented a perfect opportunity to condense everything and clean out all the items that we didn't need or have use for anymore. Now, we're in that same boat once again. And with all of that, I get to figure out what diabetes crap I need or do not have any use for. With this being Diabetes Blog Week , I took a look through some of that recently for the fittingly on-point Wednesday prompt Cleaning It Out ... and oh hell, there's a lot of it. Not to mention all of the supplies that mostly live in a plastic flip-top tote underneath the bed. This is actually the stuff I use on a daily basis. Not sure if there's anything to actually clear out from this t

Keeping It In, so says the Day 2 prompt of D-Blog Week 2015 . This conversation from Top Gun comes to mind: "That's classified." "It's what?" "It's classified. I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." "Lieutenant, I have Top Secret clearance." "The Pentagon sees to it that I know more than you." "Well, ma'am, it doesn't seem so in this case now, does it?"   Yes, even with diabetes, some things are just Top Fucking Secret -- from others online, or even those closest to us for the time being. The reason is simple: It's no one else's fucking business, until I decide it is. Because sometimes, my Diabetes is complicated. It's like I'm in a 4g-inverted dive with a Mig28, flying about two meters apart, and I'm giving my D a big "Fuck You" middle finger. Or sometimes I'm just afraid what I'm doing is going to lead to the death of

Welcome to Diabetes Blog Week 2015 , the sixth time our online community has come together for this! If you know what #DBlogWeek is, then you need no intro to this. If not, go ahead and click on over to what Karen (the creator) says about this. And now, today's prompt: I Can In the UK, there was a diabetes blog theme of "I can...”  that participants found wonderfully empowering.  So lets kick things off this year by looking at the positive side of our lives with diabetes.  What have you or your loved one accomplished, despite having diabetes, that you weren't sure you could?  Or what have you done that you've been particularly proud of?  Or what good thing has diabetes brought into your life?  (Thank you to the anonymous person who submitted this topic suggestion.) Here's what others are saying on this particular topic. And my response? Even though sometimes it feels as if I'm at the bottom of the well, staring up at the top without any wa