The Corner Booth

  National Guard vehicles drive down a flooded street in Wharton, Texas. We're all reeling from the news about the historic devastation doled out by a line of hurricanes and storms, hitting the Gulf Coast and southeastern states along with the Caribbean islands -- not to mention the catastrophic earthquake rocking Mexico and so many other natural disasters happening across the globe. For people with diabetes, both grassroots and large-scale relief efforts are underway and it's inspiring to see how our community's stepped up to help out. The latest is that at least one new non-profit has blossomed from those efforts, and a diabetes educator hopes to build a network of relief centers to help in the aftermath. This takes us to eastern Texas, where one town stands out as symbolic of all the D-Community has experienced and what many might face in the days, weeks and months in the wake of these catastrophies. Wharton, TX: 'Diabetes is Everywhere' Wh...

  When Christine Fallabel in Colorado noticed the long list of ingredients for "all-natural turkey" at a national sub sandwich shop, her first impulse was a reactive " yuck ." Soon after, she began plant-based eating. That was at age 14, two years after her diagnosis with type 1 diabetes in 2000. Ever since, Christine's been eating "clean" and hasn't looked back -- especially when it comes to life with diabetes and balancing the never-ending glucose roller coaster. Meanwhile in Oklahoma, longtime type 1 Ryan Fightmaster began eating a plant-based diet a few years ago, mostly out of curiosity after hearing about general health benefits. What he found was that eating this way knocked his insulin needs down by roughly a third and led to better BG levels, so he's kept a up a "whole food" diet with fewer carbs. Say hello to a trend that many in the Diabetes Community seem to be turning to: plant-based eating for better hea...

Insulin co-discoverer Dr. Frederick Banting made his way to a street corner in front of the Eli Lilly headquarters in Indianapolis this past weekend, to protest high insulin prices that have hit crisis status here in America. OK, it wasn't actually Dr. Banting. Longtime type 1 Jane Ware Barnes from northwest Indiana actually brought Dr. Banting -- or rather a homemade, plush fabric doll-version of him that hung on to her backpack. He wore a "Dr. Banting" namebadge and clutched an #insulin4all sign, demanding more reasonable insulin prices or else he wanted the  original $3 patent from the 1920s back. Other protesters had signs mirroring that sentiment as well -- such as " Drs. Banting and Best would be mortified! " And one protester living with diabetes himself was dressed up as the Grim Reaper, in a full black hooded robe and carrying a scythe to showcase how insulin is essential to life and unaffordable prices are literally killing people. That was the scene...

As I've shared , I took part in a protest recently in front of the Eli Lilly headquarters in Indianapolis, aimed at drawing more attention to the serious issue of insulin pricing in America. This was organized by the UK-based group T1international , and being a part of this was a personal one. I was wearing my personal advocacy hat here. Roughly about three dozen of us came out to this event on Sept. 9, what will be the first in a series focused on insulin manufacturers (and hopefully others such as Pharmacy Benefit Managers that are part of the problem. Ahead of time, I wrote out a speech. But of course, I deviated and went off script. In large part, because I was the third of three speakers and felt a decent amount just echoed what had already been said. So, I rambled on through it and left out some good chunks of what could've been said. I'm sharing that here, to put it out there. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -...

 In just a few days, I'll be part of a group standing outside Eli Lilly headquarters in Indianapolis raising my voice to protest outrageously high insulin prices. Yes, we'll be chanting, and carrying signs marked with the #insulin4all rally cry and phrases like " Insulin = Life ," " Insulin's Not Advil, It's Oxygen ,” and of course " Lower Insulin Prices! ” -- to underscore the Diabetes Community’s call for more transparency from the insulin makers, who play a big role in setting prices for this vital medication. Because the struggle is real, and the stats don't lie: Retail prices now exceed $300 for a single vial of insulin, and more than half of those whose lives depend on this drug are exposed to these crazy-high pricetags at some point, even with insurance coverage. In the 21 years since Humalog first hit the market, it’s gone up roughly 1123% (!) compared to a 56% overall inflation rate during that same timeframe. The protest ...