Tag: doc

Diabetes Products That Should Exist

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Every now and then, I’ll think longingly about the diabetes products that should exist, but either don’t because nobody’s thought of them yet, or because I’m the only one who thinks they might be a good idea. Here’s my running list of diabetes products that I wish existed – what would your list look like?

  • A snack that keeps your blood sugar totally level while working out. No, not a low carb snack per se, but something that releases a small amount of carbohydrates into the system just as you need them. So it’s kind of a magic snack in that it predicts where your blood glucose is headed? In any case, I wish this was around because going low in the middle of a workout sucks, and I hate having to stop my activity to go drink a juice box or eat glucose tablets.
  • A portable sanitary station for changing insulin pump sites. This would look either like a small, collapsible table or a tray. But it would be a super clean and secure surface on which insulin pump sites could be changed, because I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather that than a dirty public bathroom sink.
  • Painless injections/cannulas/sensors. Yeah, I know that these things all need to puncture the surface of my skin in order to get insulin into my system or glucose readings, but I wouldn’t mind them so much if they didn’t sting. Don’t get me wrong, not all shots or needle pricks are painful – I’d estimate they only hurt 10% of the time. But that’s still too much.
  • A smaller, less invasive pod design. This one’s another practicality issue. I get that pods are kind of bulky because they’re supposed to be able to hold a three-day supply of insulin. And I wouldn’t trade the tubeless system for anything (except a cure, obviously). However, it would be awesome to wear a pump that’s tube-free and doesn’t create awkward bulges underneath my clothing.
  • A pump that needs to be changed once a month rather than once every three days. Hell, I’d take one that needs to be changed once a week, because rotating sites multiple times throughout the week can be inconvenient and exhausting. Again, there’s some logistical issues with this one – we rotate sites often to prevent scar tissue buildup and there’s a limited amount of insulin that one pump can accommodate. But this is wishful thinking, people! The sky’s the limit. And on that note, the last thing I wish existed?

A damn cure.

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Hey, it’s me as a kiddo! It’d be nice if that little girl grew up knowing a cure for diabetes existed.

Favorite Things Friday: Myabetic

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One Friday per month, I’ll write about my favorite diabetes products. These items make the cut because they’re functional, fashionable, or fun – but usually, all three at once!

I can’t think of a better brand than Myabetic to kick off Favorite Things Friday. I was first introduced to their products about two years ago, when I happened across a giveaway they were hosting on Twitter. I was curious about what kind of products I might be able to win, so I visited their website to learn more.

And holy crap, it was like coming across the holy grail of cute diabetes bags. I saw a variety of wallets and purses that were designed specifically to hold a number of diabetes supplies. Each pouch and pocket within the cases had a purpose and could fit many different kinds of important gear that PWD need to tote around on a daily basis.

Immediately, I entered the giveaway, knowing that my chances of winning were slim but it couldn’t hurt to try. And wouldn’t you know it, I actually was randomly selected to choose any product I wanted from the site!

It was a tough decision, but I chose the Banting Diabetes Wallet as my prize because it was sleek and would coordinate well with my purses. Plus, the name of the item was a little shout-out to one of the men responsible for discovering insulin nearly 100 years ago.

myabetuc
The Banting Diabetes Wallet holds my meter, test strips, lancing device, glucose tablets, spare needles, batteries, medical tape, and so much more.

Ever since winning my wallet, I’ve gone on to add other items from the Myabetic lineup to my collection, including a cross-body bag and an armband that can hold my CGM and PDM when I’m in the middle of a workout. Myabetic has also recently expanded on their offerings, and they now offer a one-of-a-kind backpack made for PWD. It’s absolutely adorable and comes in several shades (personally, I’m partial to the pink frost hue – so pretty!).

The bottom line is, I couldn’t recommend Myabetic more for any PWD who wants to keep their diabetes supplies organized in a fashion-forward way. Be sure to visit their website to check out their full array of products!

My Experience Attending the 2017 Weekend for Women DiabetesSisters Conference

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It’s always amazing to me how powerful it is to be in a room filled with people with diabetes.

I was lucky enough to experience that wonderful sensation this past weekend as I attended the 2017 Weekend for Women Conference held in Alexandria, Virginia. This conference brought together all sorts of individuals: people with type 1 diabetes (and people with T2D), people who love or care for someone with diabetes, diabetes educators, registered dietitians, certified personal trainers, gifted public speakers, and individuals who came to the conference willing to share with and learn from others. It was also a bit different from standard conferences because it was coordinated by two groups – DiabetesSisters and Diabetes Collective, Inc. (which created the Diabetes UnConference).

The 48 hours that I spent at the conference were an absolute whirlwind, but I’ll do my best to recap it for you here.

Let’s start with Friday evening. Almost immediately after arriving at the Embassy Suites hotel in Alexandria, Virginia, I sat down for my first session of the weekend: The Diabetes Policy Advocacy Coalition (DPAC) boot camp. I learned what exactly diabetes advocacy policy is and how easy it is for me to get involved with it. Now more than ever, it’s extremely important for PWD and those who care for them to push our policymakers into supporting public policy initiatives that improve the health of those with diabetes.

After this energizing session, it was time to mingle with all the other conference attendees. It was really neat to meet people who I previously “knew” from interacting with them online and make that face-to-face connection. I also enjoyed meeting new people and expanding my own personal diabetes network. We rounded off the evening by attending a hilarious forum called Sex, Pods, and Rock n Roll, where a panel of diabetes all-stars answered questions from the audience about the more “taboo” diabetes topics. All you need to know is that this session resulted in a room full of PWD brainstorming a new product idea: edible underwear. It’d be perfect for low blood sugars when you’re in…the heat of the moment, no?

Fast-forward to Saturday, a day with an extremely full agenda. It was hard to choose which workshops to attend, but I wound up going to sessions about mindful eating, the physiology of diabetes and exercise, balancing an active life and diabetes, and making use of the glycemic index. I found myself learning something new in each session, which is really cool. After all, I’ve had diabetes for almost 20 years, but it goes to show that you can always learn something new and useful about your chronic condition by listening to others.

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In between the sessions, we enjoyed an extended lunch break in which I got to meet even more new people. I was particularly excited to meet and interview with Stacey Simms, who hosts the podcast called Diabetes Connections. That means there’s a chance you’ll hear my voice in one of her upcoming podcasts!

The evening ended with a reception hosted by Dexcom, similar to the one the night before. I didn’t stay for the whole thing, but I loved every second of it because I became immersed in a thoughtful conversation with other women with T1D. We talked about healthcare, politics, and what it’s like to be a woman with T1D in this day and age. It was a pleasure listening to what each lady had to say and again, really great to be talking to a like-minded group.

And just like that, it was Sunday morning – the final day of the conference. We only had a half day together, but it was just as awesome as the previous days. One session I went to was about diabetes and pregnancy, and the other was about being the CEO of your own healthcare. Just like the previous days, the speakers presented fantastic information and I found myself feeling sad that it was my last day with this group of people.

I had to duck out of the last group-wide activity a bit early, but I got the gist of the message it was meant to convey: Invest in you. Take time to look at the areas in your life that need attention, and come up with a plan to improve them. Put in the hard work to make your life what you want it to be and you’ll reap the rewards. I thought this was an especially good way to end the conference because it wasn’t necessarily related to our diabetes. It was a reminder that we are MORE than our diabetes and that we, ultimately, have control on how to live our lives happily and fully.

This was the conference, from my perspective, in a nutshell.

A special thank you to Anna Norton from DiabetesSisters and Christel Marchand Aprigliano from DPAC/the Diabetes Collective for their efforts to make this weekend a success. Thank you to each of the speakers for being engaging and putting together magnificent presentations. I wish I could personally thank each and every single attendee for being an active participant and making this conference worthwhile. I’m extra grateful to the people who I got to make more personal connections with, and I’m looking forward to keeping in touch with them. Thanks to YOU, if you were at the conference, and are now reading this recap! I’d love to hear from you what your favorite parts were – please feel free to leave a comment about your experience. Here’s to connecting with more members of the incredible diabetes community.

Memory Monday: It’s Time to Learn About Diabetes!

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One Monday per month, I’ll take a trip down memory lane and reflect on how much diabetes technology, education, and stigma has changed over the years. Remember when…

…”It’s Time to Learn About Diabetes” came out on VHS, with a workbook to accompany it?

Oh, the ’90s. What a time to be alive. Nickelodeon was in its prime, boy bands and Britney Spears were all the rage, and VHS tapes preceded DVDs and Blu-Rays as the way to watch movies. In 1995, one particular VHS tape conveniently debuted one year after my diagnosis that quickly became one of my most-watched tapes of that decade:

“It’s Time to Learn About Diabetes” told the tale of two fellow ’90s kids, Cindy and Mike. This 20 minute video walked viewers through diabetes basics and it couldn’t be more supremely cheesy. I’m certain that if I were to unearth the tape today (and a VCR to play it, to boot), I would cringe for the duration of it.

This video definitely shows its age…
…which is approximately 22 years old.

It’s been about 20 years (!!!) since I last watched the tape, but here’s what I remember about it: 1) mentions of NPH and regular; 2) the kids playing on a playground when one of them experiences a low blood sugar; 3) tacky illustrations of beta cells (I think that’s what they were, anyways); 4) 60-second meter countdowns; 5) zero inclusion of insulin pumps or CGMs, because they weren’t invented yet; 6) no explanation of the difference between T1D and T2D (for that matter, I don’t think T2 was mentioned at all); and 7) really bad you’re-about-to-learn-yay-for-education-in-the-’90s introductory music.

I’m really selling this tape here, huh? In all honesty, it wasn’t a bad way for me to really understand my diabetes at a young age. After all, how many other small children do you know that can tell you what the purpose of a pancreas is? It was a different way to present vital information I needed to know and clearly, it stuck with me pretty well.

I guess it just resonates more strongly than ever with me today because it’s a reminder of how much technology and the way information is presented has changed since my diagnosis. The Internet was still pretty new when I was diagnosed, and smartphones didn’t even exist yet. Just as phones and computers were bulky and slow in those days, so was the DTech at my disposal. 20 years later, though, information is readily available at our fingertips. It’s incredibly fast and detailed, and as technology evolves, it continues to become even more streamlined. In this way, I’m glad to have been exposed to the technology, both medical and otherwise, of the ’90s: because it makes me grateful for the incredible improvements we’ve experienced since then.

Welcome to my Blog!

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I couldn’t be more excited to start this new – and mildly daunting – venture in blogging. While I’m no stranger to sharing my diabetes story with others online, it’s a bit more intimidating to craft my own blog and show a more personal side of myself.

In fact, if you had told me 10 years ago that I would be a diabetes blogger who’s connected with T1Ds all across the country, I would have looked at you like you were absolutely insane. I was already accustomed to a life with diabetes in my teenage years, but that didn’t mean I was willing to talk about it. I shunned the notion of attending diabetes camp or meeting other peers with T1D. I figured that the only other T1Ds I needed in my life were my mom and my aunt – their support was enough for me.

This point of view changed, though, just before I started my freshman year at college. Suddenly, I was all too aware of the fact that I’d be forced to take full responsibility of my diabetes care and management for the first time in my life. College meant a true taste of independence, and with that came accountability for my health. This realization made me accept that perhaps I should welcome some additional support into my life.

That’s when the College Diabetes Network entered the picture. A quick search online brought me to this incredible nonprofit. After learning that a chapter existed at my school, I made it my goal to give it a try and go to a meeting. Little did I know that over the course of the next three years, I would become the president of this chapter and register it as a student organization on campus.

Hi. That’s me, attending my first CDN Retreat and basking in the endless amounts of diet coke available there.

My involvement with the CDN has provided me with many opportunities. I’ve attended conferences and gained internship experiences due to my connection to the CDN. I’ve met dozens of people like me all across the country – individuals looking for peer support as we navigate the tricky world of diabetes, college, the real world, and young adulthood. Hearing stories both similar to and different from my own never fails to make an impact on me, and the inspiration I draw from others gives me the courage to make my voice heard within and outside the diabetes community.

In fact, my openness over sharing my diabetes resulted in my blog’s title: Hugging the Cactus. Anyone who knows me knows that I wear an OmniPod insulin pump and a Dexcom CGM. As I rotate sites around my body, this means that I sometimes wear them in plain sight. On a particular evening, I was wearing one on the back of each arm. I had made a trip to the restroom at a restaurant and was walking back to my table when a not-so-shy waiter asked me, politely, “What are those things on your arms?”

“Oh, it’s my insulin pump and my glucose monitor. I have type one diabetes and these help me manage it,” I explained, in a patient tone.

“Oh, I’m sorry – that’s terrible,” the waiter replied. Remorse appeared in his expression.

“Please don’t apologize,” I said to him, reassuringly. “I’ve had diabetes most of my life. I accept it and I’m grateful for these devices. They make it much easier to take care of myself.”

“That’s pretty cool, you know,” he said, his face changing. He smiled at me. “It’s like your hugging the cactus. Accepting the bad for what it is and embracing it.”

I remember flashing him a giant smile and laughing as I said, “I like that. That’s exactly what it is.” He wished me a good evening, which I reciprocated, before parting ways. I cemented the phrase “hugging the cactus” into my memory that night, because it sums up my perspective on life with diabetes perfectly.

And this is why I’m here: to share my stories with others, as well as to hear your stories. It’s my humble hope to positively impact the life of someone who deals with diabetes, directly or indirectly. Whether we share the same feelings or completely different ones regarding diabetes, I think it’s wonderful to be part of the diabetes community and share in the strength, knowledge, and sense of belonging found within it.