Logging. It is something every diabetic should do. It is important in terms of identifying patterns and making decisions about dosing - and it is vital to figuring out when you need to be paying more attention and where your problem areas are in the course of a day. I remember the bad old days of handwritten logbooks. They were cumbersome and not at all useful, even when they were kept up and brought to the doctor. Technology has come a long way and there are many great tools available for logging everything we need to be tracking. But, for me at least, logging is still an excruciating task. (READ MORE)

To describe diabetes in three words is very difficult. That's because at any given time, your thoughts and feelings about this disease are changing. So I guess one word that comes to mind is unpredictable . It is important to note, however, that with better control comes more predictability. I think I view my diabetes as little bit more unpredictable because I have trouble keeping my sugars regulated. I feel a person who can maintain an A1C of 6 can predict their blood sugar a lot more accurate than a person with hemoglobin of 8. Maybe I'm wrong though. Another word that I would use to describe my diabetes is unfair.
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Children with Diabetes

I called my supply company today. A very good company that provides me with all of my pump supplies - including batteries and IV preps - thank you very much! Here's how the call went:

"Hello, this is Nicole Purcell calling, I'm due for my supplies so I'm just calling in."

"Oh, OK, hold on a second."

I hold on, hearing her type-type-typing.

"Oh, you're a pump."

"Excuse me?"

"You're a pump, just hold...o..."

"Excuse me, before you transfer me, I need to tell you that I am not, in fact, a pump. But I am a person that wears a pump..." Letting that little gem hang out there for an uncomfortably silent few seconds. "Hello, are you still there?" (READ MORE)

People with diabetes, and those touched by diabetes, follow their journey with the disease through a myriad of winding emotional paths. Depression is very common for those newly diagnosed, sadness can rear its head at different stages in the game, and a little humor and humility can even find the door to expose itself from time to time. The keys for controlling those doors are littered all over the place and on  Wrld Diabetes Day today, you can follow this map of internet hotspots. Expose diabetes for all that it is, good and bad, and then share it with others. Find an emotion and embrace it!

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I am on the eliptical trainer, rather lost in the music coming from my Ipod. I'm into the second half of my one hour of cardio for the day. I'm starting to feel a little weak - so I keep my legs moving and grab my test kit from the water bottle slot. I fumble my hands through the test, while my poor legs struggle to remain coordinated. Damn it. 73 mg/dl. This is not good. If I want this work out to continue, I best act fast. Legs still moving, I open the hammer gel pack I'd brought for just such an occasion. (READ MORE)

JDRF

We met because we have diabetes. Our lives became linked by pump tubing and test strip trails, by the difficulty of lows and the joy of staying stable and feeling healthy, by the words we used to describe the struggles and the victories. But we became friends because we have so much more in common. A love of words and books and strawberry tea, an appreciation for twisted or immature humor, and goofy cats that drive us crazy. We would like one another, even if we didn't share diabetes. But diabetes bonds us as tightly, if not more tightly, than any of our other commonalities. (READ MORE)