Top 5 things about #DBlogWeek

Before proceeding I would like to thank Karen Graffeo for organizing DBlogWeek and everyone who participated.

I began blogging in late December 2013, so this is my first DBlogWeek.

Initially I was hesitant about joining this event. A week or two before I had published posts on 6 consecutive days – my personal record. Would I be able to do it again?

Obviously I did join, and, as it turned out, my initial fears were unfounded. With that said, it wasn’t easy.

Attempting to keep up with other people’s posts was difficult. I fell behind. Although I failed to keep up, in the upcoming days I will make sure to read the ones that I missed.

Anyway…

Here is what made #DBlogWeek a great experience:

1. It fosters a greater sense of community in the dblog solar system;
2. It exposes one to different perspectives;
3. One makes connections with formerly unknown people;
4. It eliminates the need to find something to write about;
5. It gives you an excuse to spam your followers with blog posts :p

May good blood sugars be with you all until next time!

#DBlogWeek – Picture day!

Sisyphus: livin’ the D life before it was mainstream

The painting is by Titian

Diabetes Life Hacks – #DBlogWeek

Know what amuses me? Of all the DBlogWeek prompts, this one is the most challenging! We have discussed changing the world, mental health, our personal mantras. I have written about these with ease, only to have this ease obstructed by a pebble. It’s absurd! I love absurdities! For this I am grateful…

Confession: I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, a “neat diabetes tricks” kind of guy.

If your pump clip breaks, put it in your pocket. That’s my most marvelous trick. Call me Mozart! My creativity knows no bounds, and I am prolific in my output.

In all honesty, I am the Justin Bieber of diabetes tricks…

Does that analogy work?

Nah… I don’t share my “neat” tricks, so I can’t be hated for doing so.

In all seriousness, seriousness has been lacking in my tone thus far. Really though… in all seriousness, that last sentence was stating the obvious.

Mantras and Reminders – #DBlogWeek

I planned on creating a collage of quotes to express my mantras. Sometimes plans change.

Re-viewing my recent posts, I observed a budding fear of hypoglycemia. I am no stranger to this. I once let this fear fatigue me.

Moving forward, I am not willing to allow the past to repeat. Therefore, I have tailored my plan.

Without further ado, here are some of my mantras in my words:

• Change is the law of life. The lows won’t last forever;
• That is how I feel, this is how I act;
• I may stumble, but I won’t fall;
• Perseverance is perfection;
• I won’t flee from my reflection;
• A dark sense of humor is a diabetics best friend;
• I am alive. I have emotions. I accept them;
• This Is Sisyphus!

I will repeat these throughout the upcoming months. They have assisted me; may they assist me again!

What you do is up to you; the doc is here to help.

#DBlogWeek – A novel approach to discussing mental health

Diabetes and mental health – more specifically the connection between the two – fascinates me. I am excited. I am also concerned. Will I be able to have a narrow focus? Will I ramble on? Heck…will this post even make sense?!

The gods had condemned Sisyphus to ceaselessly rolling a rock to the top of a mountain, whence the stone would fall back of its own weight. They had thought with some reason that there is no more dreadful punishment than futile and hopeless labor.
~ Albert Camus

We all have rocks to roll. Blood glucose levels are one of mine.

By unfamiliar forces condemned, I roll this rock up the hill of perfection, only to fail…repeatedly.

Now I stand face to face with my own humanity.

Smacked by the futility of the task, consciousness of my predicament arises. Responsibility drops on my shoulders. The moment of decision has arrived.

A book of options is presented. I am free to look it over, free to choose.

Human agency makes its entrance.

My reaction is not predestined.

Inclined towards my habits, the familiar option is chosen. All others are ignored.

For one reason among many, with a spirit of adventure I’m filled, and I decide to forsake my habits. I choose a novel option.

Both of these paths I have traversed.

Which course will I follow?

————

Implicit herein lies most of the mental health difficulties I have faced whilst living with diabetes for the last 12 years.

I hope that some beams of light shine through as well.

————

In the past, I have described in greater specificity some of the psychological challenges that I have faced. In the future I will likely divulge more.

A broad approach for a broad topic. That is the approach I have taken here.

————

Update: I experienced diabetes-related anxiety after publishing this post, which you can read about here:
https://t1dme.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/speaking-of-diabetes-and-mental-health/

A diabetes poem – #DBlogWeek

Eyes weighed down like lead
I lower my head.
Memory kicks in,
And I remember:
I have the D.
Nothing’s so simple.

#DBlogWeek – If I could change the world…

Warning: This post is going to be hyperbolic at times.

Jean Paul-Sartre once said “hell is other people.” People with diabetes know this all too well. The tragedy of the situation is that it does not have to be that way.

Other people cause us hell when health insurance representatives try to make it difficult for us to receive medical technology that will improve our standards of living.

It does not have to be that way.

Other people cause us hell when when they decide to charge us 5-star prices for fast food quality test strips.

It does not have to be that way.

Other people cause us hell when they cast judgement upon us, sniping our self-esteem.

It does not have to be that way.

Other people cause the impatient among us hell when they play dumb after we have explained diabetes to them countless times.

It does not have to be that way.

Other people cause us hell when they trivialize or exaggerate diabetes.

It does not have to be that way.

Other people cause us hell when they act coldly…robotic…inhuman when we mention the unfair portion of BS that has been allotted to us.

It does not have to be that way.

Other people cause us hell by doing this… Other people cause us hell by doing that… Other people unnecessarily cause us hell in numerous ways. That is the underlying issue that I care most about.

This is unacceptable! This is inexcusable! This must stop!

As people with diabetes, we have enough to deal with as it is. I accept that. What I can’t accept is other people making things artificially difficult. Thankfully, things are changing.

Other people’s actions, occasionally, throw us into a pit. The actions of those in the Diabetes Online Community protect us from the pit, and pull those within out of it.

Our actions are our hope!