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Day 1 of 2017 RABlog week
Today is the first day of 2017 RABlog Week. Each day bloggers will be given a prompt and many writers in the RA community will be blogging about that prompt. Today’s prompt is: Mental Health – How do you manage to maintain your mental health while dealing with autoimmune disease? Discuss how dealing with RA every day makes you emotional. Do you hide your emotions? Mental health may be the most talked about and therefore the most important issue in the chronic health community. I wish I had an answer. I do not, but in a way that...
read more2017 RABlog week prompt survey
We have a badge for RABlog week 2017. The badge at the left was selected in our recent poll by a small margin. We had 49 votes cast this year, and of those 21 selected the winning design. The next highest vote went to badge number 4 which received 14 votes, and the other two received 14 votes. We had one clear winner and one clear loser. Design number 3 only received 3 votes. I am now in the process of working on the banner and the participant badge based on the winning design. I will have them ready for the opening of RABlog...
read moreRABlog week badge selection
I have 4 potential badges for use during RABlog week and I am asking the community to help select which of the 4 we use? The survey will be open until midnight eastern on August 23, 2017 and you may vote as many times as you wish. So if you have a favorite or you cannot decide; feel free to complete the survey again. The triangle theme All four badges include triangles of some type. The triangle will form the basis of our questions this year. The three sides representing medicine, self-reliance and support. Medicine may be the...
read moreLooking at 60
A few weeks ago I marked my 60th birthday. I celebrated with three chronic conditions Type 1 Diabetes, Ankylosing Spondylitis and Rheumatoid Arthritis. A casual observer might say my body is broken. In fairness, I must admit all the pieces of me do not work as well (or in some cases at all) as they once did. Perspective Still, I have a different perspective about some of this medical stuff than you might expect. I have so many blessings that it is difficult to focus solely on those long term conditions. I admit that...
read moreInsulin: The high price of not going high
In June at the request of HealthCentral, I wrote two items discussing the high price of insulin. One is an information item about four main factors which cause insulin prices to be higher than we would like. In it, I cite Manufacturers, Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBM), Employer Health Plan Design and Users each as contributing to the increasing cost insulin. In truth, it is all four of these factors plus more that is causing the price of insulin to escalate. I hope my article “Four Factors Are Driving Up The Price Of Insulin in the U.S.”...
read moreTalking to Kids about Chronic Illness
“Dad, want to play catch?” Those words meant something was up. They began what I can only describe as a lifelong ongoing conversation with my sons about chronic illness. On that day, it was a discussion about diabetes with my youngest son. His questions were clear, and I did not need to go into dire warnings or hype the potential outcome. He knew all of that because he had listened to his mom, brother and I discuss it often. What he wanted to know was more basic. Would he be ok? Was he going to have diabetes? When could he expect the...
read moreHard Rock Pins, just because
Today is the fifth day of Diabetes Blog week. Each day we have a prompt and are called to post a response. You can read all responses at my friend Karen’s site Bitter~Sweet. Also, please remember RABlog week will occur in September. I hope you join the fun then as well. Prompt More than Diabetes – Friday 5/19 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...
read moreEmotions, the second front
Today is the fourth day of Diabetes Blog week. Each day we have a prompt and are called to post a response. You can read all responses at my friend Karen’s site Bitter~Sweet. Also, please remember RABlog week will occur in September. I hope you join the fun then as well. Prompt: Throwback Thursday: What Brings Me Down – Thursday 5/18 Today let’s revisit a prompt from 2014 – May is Mental Health Month so now seems like a great time to explore the emotional side of living with, or caring for someone with, diabetes. What things...
read moreThe Blame Game
Today is the third day of Diabetes Blog week. Each day we have a prompt and are called to post a response. You can read all responses at my friend Karen’s site Bitter~Sweet. Also, please remember RABlog week will occur in September. I hope you join the fun then as well. Prompt The Blame Game – Wednesday 5/17 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...
read moreThe Cost
On April 20, 2017, I attended the Lilly Diabetes Insulin Access Workshop hosted by Lilly Diabetes. Lilly paid for my meals and travel expenses to and from the event. This is my first post about insulin pricing that uses data derived in part from that meeting. All opinions and thoughts are my own and not reflective of Eli Lilly and company or other attendees. Today is the second day of Diabetes Blog week. Each day we have a prompt and are called to post a response. You can read all responses at my friend Karen’s site Bitter~Sweet. Also,...
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