It’s Diabetes Awareness Month

Today is the 1st day of November, and the beginning of Diabetes Awareness Month.  As you can see, My Diabetic Heart is draped in Diabetes Blue, and has been since the middle of October, when I first announced the idea of Going Blue for the month of November, and invited everyone else to follow suit.  Several other D-Bloggers have already changed their blogs to Diabetes Blue, and I thank them for their support.  It’s not too late to join the fun either.  So get your blog paint brush out, and GO D BLUE!

Today is also SAE It Loud Day, which is an AWEsome idea from my friend, Sarah, over at the Sugabetic blog.  Pay her a visit for more details.

I’ll also be participating in a few other Diabetes Awareness activities throughout the month of November, and encourage everyone else to do so as well.

Each Friday during November, I will be wearing Blue in support of Cherise Shockley’s Blue Fridays initiative.

Diabetes Blog Day is November 9th. The topic this year is: 6 things you want people to know about diabetes.

November 14th is World Diabetes  Day, and I will be participating in the Big Blue Test.

I’m sure I’ll add more activities to the list as the month goes on, but those are the big ones that I know will happen.

Now I’m off to check my blood sugar. Ciao!

Posted in Diabetes Awareness Month, Shout outs | 4 Comments

Little G with Carby, The D-Pumpkin

An brief, impromptu D-Meetup with Michael Hoskins on Saturday night resulted in Little G and Carby, The D-Pumpkin, posing for a quick photo.

Little G with Carby the D Pumpkin

Posted in D-Meetups, Shout outs, The Adventures of Little G | 3 Comments

Going Blue for Diabetes

If you visit this website on a regular basis, you may have noticed a big change that took place over the weekend.  The normally red background, headers, links, etc… are now Diabetes Blue.

I’d been thinking about what do for Diabetes Awareness Month and World Diabetes Day for some time, and after reading Kelly Kunik’s blog post on Thursday, I got to thinking about ways to raise awareness and spread the Blue.  And it hit me, Why not turn My Diabetic Heart blue for the entire month of November?

Now, I realize that it’s only the middle of October, and November won’t be here for a couple of weeks.  So, why am I making this change now?  Well, it’s simple.  I’d like my fellow D-Bloggers and D-OC members to join me, and it’s going to take some time to prepare.  Honestly,  it only involves a few simple layout tweeks.  And I’m more than willing to help anyone who wants to join me.  It’s a pretty simple idea, but it’s one that could help raise awareness.

Naturally, being a code monkey and all, my idea came from the mindset of spreading awareness online.  But what about spreading awareness offline?  Well, embarrassingly enough, I’m at a loss for ideas there.  However, fellow D-Blogger & D-OC member Cherise Shockley came up with an idea for spreading the blue offline called Blue Fridays. Check out her blog for more details.

These are both fairly simple ideas, but there is great potential for success in each of them if everyone gets involved.

So please join us, and GO BLUE!

Posted in Diabetes Awareness Month, Shout outs, World Diabetes Day | 8 Comments

Anniversary Weekend Photos

April & I celebrated our 8th anniversary this past weekend, and spent the better part of 4 days driving around northeast Indiana, visiting little towns and taking pictures of nature.  Here are some of those nature pictures.  Oh, and beware of amorous turtles.  lol.

http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649

Comments/feedback are always welcome. 🙂

Posted in Life, Photos | 4 Comments

NoDday: 10 Facts about Mike

In honor of NoDday, here’s a list of 10 facts that you may not know about me.

1. I was born in the bathroom at my grandmother’s house.  And my grandmother is listed as the delivering physician on my birth certificate.

2. There’s a blue scar on the left side of my forehead. Some times I like to think that maybe Harry Potter’s scar could have been inspired by mine. lol

3. As a child, I narrowly avoided being a victim of a drive by shooting.

4. I was voted most mysterious male in my senior class in high school.

5. I’m a bit of a history buff, especially in the subjects of the Lewis & Clark expedition, Lincoln and the Civil War, and other things related to U.S. history.

6. I’ve traveled on the trail of the Lewis & Clark expedition from Louisville, KY to Bismarck, ND.

7. Southern gospel is my favorite genre of music. (I know, I’m weird like that.)

8. I haven’t had a drink of alcohol in over two years.

9. While in college, I was a technical writer/editor for a textbook that one of my professors wrote and published.  I’m listed in the credits section of the book.

10. The woman with whom I’ve spent the last 8 years is the first and only person I’ve ever been with in my life.

Posted in Life, No D Day | 7 Comments

A Few Things Bugging Me

It’s been a month since I last posted anything here on MDH, and although I haven’t been writing, I have been around.  I’ve just been listening and watching.  And I’ve seen a few things in the last month that have really bugged me.

Another Testing Study

Yesterday, I read this article, Push to restrict blood glucose checks, which talks about a study conducted in Canada to determine whether self-monitoring of blood glucose is beneficial to people who are non-insulin dependent, a.k.a… people with type 2 diabetes.  The basic conclusion was that no benefits existed, therefore, there was no need for people with type 2 diabetes to test on a regular basis.

Well, excuse me while I stand up and yell BULLSHIT!

I’m a person with type 2 diabetes, and I test multiple times a day.  Doing so helps me keep track of how my blood sugars are doing, what I need to eat and when, and provides data and insight into how well my body reacts to not only the meals I eat, but also to stress, illness, and other factors.  Simply put, daily monitoring helps me determine how well my treatment regimen is working, and what I need to talk to my doctors about during my appointments.

I know that others in the D-OC probably feel the same way I do, so I think it is safe to say I speak for most when I say that I wish the assclowns who conduct these studies would stop handing the insurance companies more reasons to deny coverage of testing supplies.  We have enough trouble with getting things paid for because of insurance companies jerking us around.  We don’t need you adding to their arsenal of bullshit excuses.  So STOP IT!

Celebrities Claiming to be Cured

And while I’m wishing for things, I wish certain celebrities would stop claiming to be cured of their type 2 diabetes because they lost come weight and are no longer on medications, as a result of diet and exercise changes.

I know plenty of people with type 2 diabetes who manage their diabetes with diet and exercise alone, but they still have type 2 diabetes.  Why?  Because the fact is: THERE IS NO CURE!

While I do congratulate these people on successfully gaining control of their diabetes, I do wish they would think before they open their mouths to the media.  They have no idea of the harm they are doing to the efforts of those who are trying to educate people on the facts about all type of diabetes.

Content Theft

And last, but certainly not least, I was both angered and saddened when I read the posts of fellow D-Bloggers, Kelly Kunik and Michael Hoskins, regarding their content being stolen.  And the outrage grew when it was discovered that the content thieves were lifting content from the entire Diabetes Daily blogging community.

I’ve had content stolen in the last few months, so I know the anger and frustration felt by my friends.  These instances highlight the need for all of us to take steps to protect the contents of our blogs.  I’m sorry that Mike, Kelly, and the team at Diabetes Daily are dealing with this bullshit, but I am thankful that they have  made the issue a public one, and that they are taking action against the offending sites.

One thing is for certain, the owners of those sites have chosen the wrong community.  We’ll get those content stealing sons of bitches. One site at a time.

Posted in Diabetes, Rants, Shout outs | 5 Comments

Battling the other D

“Depression hurts.” That’s what the lady in the Cymbalta commercial said this morning.  My mind screamed, “Lady, you have no idea!” in response.  The words never left my mouth, but they sure could have.

I’ve battled depression off and on for many years.  It comes and goes, and no two bouts are ever the same.  Sometimes it lasts but a day or so, and other times I battle for weeks to get back on track.  As of late, I’ve found myself in the later.

I am, for all intents and purposes, fighting with depression right now.  And it most certainly does hurt.  It hurts mentally, affecting my ability to work, to focus on what’s important, and essentially, to care about much at all.

It hurts physically, affecting my blood sugars, my blood pressures, and causing headaches and other aches and pains.

I hate the way I’m feeling right now.  Like I’m caught in a dense fog, and can’t see anything around me.  I know it will pass eventually, I’ve been through it all before, but I’m struggling with it nonetheless.

Perhaps a vacation would help.  It would certainly give me some time to rest, and hopefully clear my mind of the funk that has filled it.  I have a three day weekend coming to me this week; I just have to make it through the rest of today and tomorrow, and then I’ll have Thursday, Friday, and Saturday off.  If that doesn’t help, well, I do have plenty of vacation time racked up.

I think I can make it, I think I can make it.  No wait…………..I KNOW I CAN! And here we go……….

Posted in Depression, Life, Mental Health | 7 Comments

D-Ninja Land

As promised, here is Little G’s contribution to Diabetes Art Day.

Many thanks to Lee Ann Thill of The Butter Compartment for making Diabetes Art Day possible.

Posted in Diabetes Art Day, Photos, Shout outs, The Adventures of Little G | 3 Comments

Diabetes Family Tree

Today is Diabetes Art Day!!!!!  In honor of this day, I decided to pay tribute to the DOC, or as I like to think of it, my diabetes family.  And so, I present to you my Diabetes Family Tree.

Many thanks to Lee Ann Thill of The Butter Compartment for making Diabetes Art Day possible.

Posted in Diabetes Art Day, Inspiration, Photos | 19 Comments

D-Police Badge (DArtDay Preview)

In light of Diabetes Art Day, I decided it would be nice to create a badge for the Diabetes Police.  Well, in my mind, there are two distinct groups of Diabetes Police.  On one side, you have those people who really are knowledgeable, have good intentions, and are only looking out for your best interest.  You know, the kind that annoy you, yet are still tolerable.  And on the other side, you have those people who don’t have a clue, yet still make stupid comment just for the sake of hearing their own voice.  So, there are two badges.  See if you can guess which one belongs to which group. 🙂

So, without further delay, here are my first two attempts at creating a suitable badge:

Comments are definitely welcome!

Posted in Diabetes, Diabetes Art Day, Humor, Photos | 7 Comments