To start off, it was my husband’s birthday. And the start of a three day weekend. So that right there makes it a pretty good day.
It was also my first day at my new job!!! I’m so excited to share that I’ve joined the DiabetesSisters staff as their new Program Manager! For the past several years I’ve loved volunteering with Virtual PODS and I could not be more thrilled to officially join the team. For more on what I’ll be doing, check out this press release that was shared today.
It’s hard to imagine one single day could get more exciting, but it actually did. Because late on Friday, UPS dropped off all of this….
670G Hybrid Closed Loop, here I come!! So far I’ve set up my basal and bolus settings and started reading the training manuals. I’ll start using it in manual mode next week after my first training session. And if all goes well, a week later I’ll be ready to try auto-mode and let the closed loop start doing its thing.
I can’t even convey how excited and lucky and grateful I was (and continue to be) that the stars aligned on Friday and delivered one super spectacular day to me. And I’m so looking forward to these new adventures I’m starting.
** My Medtronic disclosure can be found here. **
Usually when I can do something on autopilot it’s a good thing. It means it has become a part of my routine and I can quickly get the chore done without investing too much brainpower.
I'm a bit late with this year's ![200x200[6]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvyWJVw87BRNWOILB2uirksV0PBiMaAlcah-wOzn-10DidZy2BWX2sjD9R6_WeWN-a4fYQda3gDdXFd5o5WwHgeOF3RXP1IbrHn_fU2Uc-_NCms_QsVN_AfoFi_XtqXVxr1f_2dSYyngxO/?imgmax=800 "200x200[6]")
Today’s topic is More Than Diabetes. Lets wrap up the week by sharing a little more about ourselves, beyond the chronic illness we or our loved ones live with. Share an interest, hobby, passion, something that is YOU. If you want to explore how it relates to or helps with diabetes you can. Or let it be a part of you that is completely separate from diabetes, because there is more to life than just diabetes! (This topic is a suggestion from the 2016 #DBlogWeek survey.)
We’re going to go back to a past 
On to today’s topic, The Blame Game. Having diabetes often makes a visit to the doctor a dreaded experience, as there is invariably bad news of one kind or another. And sometimes the way the doctor talks to you can leave you feeling like you’re at fault. Or maybe you have a fantastic healthcare team, but have experienced blame and judgement from someone else in your life – friend, loved one, complete stranger. Think about a particularly bad instance, how that person talked to you, the words they used and the conversation you had. Now, the game part. Let’s turn this around. If you could turn that person into a puppet, what would you have them say that would leave you feeling empowered and good about yourself? Let’s help teach people how to support us, rather than blame us! (Thank you, 
Today’s topic is The Cost of a Chronic Illness. Insulin and other diabetes medications and supplies can be costly. Here in the US, insurance status and age (as in Medicare eligibility) can impact both the cost and coverage. So today, let’s discuss how cost impacts our diabetes care. Do you have advice to share? For those outside the US, is cost a concern? Are there other factors such as accessibility or education that cause barriers to your diabetes care? (This topic was inspired by suggestions from 
So when I think about the cost of my chronic illness, it isn’t always the dollars I’m thinking of. Instead, it’s less tangible things. Diabetes costs me countless hours of sleep treating middle of the night lows or correcting stubborn overnight highs. I’ve paid with so many tears of frustration when I’ve tried my hardest and things still don’t go well. It costs me guilt when I see the worry in my husband’s eye or hear the panic in his voice when he’s leaving me a second voicemail and I haven’t answered the phone. Diabetes charges a lot in energy and brain power just to keep myself alive. It has repossessed my nights when plans are cancelled because out of range blood sugars have left me too exhausted to go out.
Today’s topic is Diabetes and The Unexpected. Diabetes can sometimes seem to play by a rulebook that makes no sense, tossing out unexpected challenges at random. What are your best tips for being prepared when the unexpected happens? Or, take this topic another way and tell us about some good things diabetes has brought into your, or your loved one’s, life that you never could have expected? (Thank you, 
Sometimes I think of the Diabetes Online Community (or DOC) as a huge beach, and each of us are the tiny grains of sand that make up our beach. Sometimes we quietly lay there, sometimes we drift in and out with the tides, and sometimes we come together and do something huge. When that happens, I see us as a big beautiful sandcastle.
“Ouch!”
One evening I was at a friend’s apartment for a party. The bathrooms in our on-campus apartments had storage closets with sliding doors for stuff to be stowed. Someone had left the sliding door open, and I couldn’t help but notice an oh-so-familiar-to-me box of syringes. I wondered who it could belong to and I couldn’t get it out of my head. So I asked my friend about it. As it turns out, his roommate, who I didn’t know all that well, had diabetes. “Yeah, he always ends up in the hospital because he'll eat a big bag of M&Ms.” I was kind of shocked. Shocked because I wasn’t the only one with diabetes. Shocked because I wasn't the only one who wasn't doing very well with my diabetes management. And also shocked because this poor guy kept ending up in the hospital. After all, I ate more than my fair share of M&Ms as well, but I was okay. I couldn’t imagine what I was doing, or actually not doing, could land me in the hospital.
Pete and I have often discussed giving me a Diabetes Day Off. Of course, it wouldn't really be a day off from diabetes because that just isn't about to happen any time soon. But the idea is that Pete would take over all of my diabetes tasks for a day. When my blood sugar needed checking, I'd give him the finger (so to speak) and he'd do the rest. He would do all the carb counting and I'd happily let him program the bolus on my pump. He would follow my CGM data on his phone. I'd even put him in charge of a site change if I needed one. Basically diabetes would be out of my hands (and hopefully off my brain) for one complete day.
