Rant Time!

Many times we try to show the positive side of diabetes. The amazing diabetes community. The joys of low carb eating. The world full of sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns.

Then reality hits. I get doughnuts as a special treat for my second child's birthday to celebrate her last year as a teenager. I really want one. Just one. Oh here's a small one. I'll just eat that. Then a little while later I start having that high glucose feeling. It's hard to explain but others with diabetes know what I mean. I kind of feel hot on the inside. My head feels funny. My body feels funny. My belly feels funny. It's not a feeling that can be put into words. I'm only in the 160s right now (two hours later) but it's somewhat hard to concentrate.

I'm usually pretty conservative with my words. I rarely curse. I even feel uncomfortable with words like stupid and sucks. However I'm cranky and fed up. Diabetes isn't fair! It isn't fair one bit. It downright sucks!

It sucks that I can't have more than one doughnut. Even that one makes my glucose go up.

It sucks that I go to 200 from a simple bowl of cereal.

It sucks that I have to watch what I eat.

It sucks that I can go low from cleaning the house.

It sucks!

I could end here with a change of heart talking about what is good about diabetes. Normally I do when I write these ranting posts. Not this time. This time I'm going to say "It sucks!" and let it sit there. Too often we're told it will be ok and to smile. We need to acknowledge the sucky parts of diabetes!

Sometimes we don't want to smile - and that's ok!

The Faces of #MasterLab on Twitter

One of the resources I was introduced to during MasterLab was the database created by Symplur. They have created what they call the Healthcare Hashtag Project. You can search for Twitter hashtags based on tweet chats, conferences, various diseases, etc. What a wealth of information! I can't even begin to explain this resource, but if you head over to their site and play around a bit, I'll bet you'll be amazed like I was (and still am!).

According to Symplur, these were the faces of the MasterLab hashtag on Twitter between July 5 and July 10, 2015.  (Screen shot taken on July 11, 2015.)

Now to put some names (or Twitter usernames) to the faces. The first column are the top ten people mentioned with the hashtag MasterLab while the second column contains the top ten people tweeting about MasterLab, using the hashtag. It was lovingly brought to my attention that I tweet a lot. For those of you not on Twitter, yes, I am @rfamsramblings. You can tell that I am passionate about MasterLab! (Screen shot taken on July 11, 2015.)

Some of these people were attending MasterLab while others were following along from home. Some represent businesses or non-profits, while many are individuals who live with diabetes as part of their daily lives. (I'll admit that I know that there's at least one "bot" in the first screen shot above which automatically retweets sporadic posts.)

Regardless our role in the diabetes community, we share a common goal: access for all until a cure is found!

Diabetes Advocacy Has an Easy Button

Do you want to get involved with diabetes advocacy but just don't have the time?

As a busy mom of five, teacher, and recent masters graduate, I understand this completely!

Please let me introduce you to Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition! This is the diabetes advocacy easy button.

As stated on their site, "Join Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition to easily help keep policy makers’ attention on people with diabetes. Once you've joined, we'll keep track of issues, opportunities, and how to contact officials. We make it easy to for you to advocate while giving you the opportunity to tell your own story."

It doesn't matter what type you are. Type 1? Type 2? LADA? MODY? Diabetes issues affects us all. This site makes finding the issues and who to write to easy. Add a little personalization to the letter and hit send.

As a famous office supply store likes to say, "Well that was easy!"

The Two Faces of Diabetes

My diabetes seems to have two faces, or sides. The side I like to show in public, and the side I like to keep secret.

The public side of my diabetes shows the world that their misconceptions about Type 2 are all wrong. I exercise, I'm a healthy weight, I check my blood sugar on a regular basis, and I watch my carbs. This is the side that I like to present to the world. This is the side that shouts out, "Colas full of sugar didn't give me diabetes, so there!" The side that says that genetics is to blame more than anything else.

However there is the other side of my diabetes. It's the side that wants to get comfy in the recliner and eat a whole bag of chips in one sitting. The side that wants to eat chocolate chip cookies with milk until I have a tummy ache. The side that says "Not today!" to exercise. The side that thinks maybe I did something to "earn" the diagnosis of diabetes. The side that shows that I am human. The side that shows that I am not perfect. The side that wants to curl up in a ball and cry.

Honestly this is very close to how I feel as a mom of five kids. The public side is a very organized mom with five amazing kids. The other side is my cluttered house and lucky if I know what day it is sometimes.

Unfortunately our society only sees the side that I want to hide. The media portrays Type 2 diabetics as older, overweight individuals with unhealthy lifestyles. Where are the young, healthy Type 2s with some bum genes? I know we're out there. I've met many through the DOC and other advocacy work. Where are those who develop Type 2 due to other medical conditions such as PCOS? Why doesn't the media talk about that?

Why doesn't the media show us the side of diabetes that takes the blame off the patient and admits that sometimes things happen no matter what you do? When are we going to realize that correlation does not equal causation?

When are we going to stop shaming people who live day to day with a life threatening chronic illness?