I was back at home in Ireland last week for a few days. Traveling overseas during Thanksgiving is fairly easy and it's a good time to see Ireland. The weather is generally nicer than the Northeastern US, and in Ireland everyone is getting ready for Christmas.
This time I was able to borrow some family slides and I've started scanning them in. I thought I'd share a two of me as a child. I'm surprised how well they've held up despite the lack of special attention to them.
For now I'm going to try and scan them in using a printer/scanner combo we have at home. I did find a company called ScanCafe that will scan slides for $0.24 per slide. But it takes 4-6 weeks and the photos are sent overseas for processing. Let me know if you have any experience with these folks.
Our presidential candidates
Even though the US presidential election is almost a year away, things are starting to heat up over here. Mostly because of the early primaries and caucus races in January (yes, that's only about 5 weeks away).
Have any of looked at what our candidates are saying about healthcare? Does any of this sound like they've even thought about chronic illnesses and how to take care of these? Do let me know what you're thinking about the current field.
Right now I'm favoring Mike Huckabee slightly for two reasons. First he knows about Type 2 diabetes personally and has worked hard to overcome it. Secondly this recent advert of his really gave me a good laugh. And any candidate who can take shots at himself is worth considering to some extent.
Yesterday was one of those excellent blood sugar days that I dream about. Here's the picture from the Dexcom software.
I can thank Symlin for the lack of any post meal highs during the day. The two horizontal lines are the limits (140 for a high and 80 for a low) that I like to use with my Dexcom CGMS. Trust me, I don't get enough days where the line stays within the limits so much. The big gap early in the day is when my 7-day sensor ran out. I had to reset it and then wait 2 hours to recalibrate. I'm now on day 9 of this sensor and so far it's still working well.
Diabetes365 is an idea that I got from Beth of insearchofbalance. She started her Diabetes365 photo project a few days ago and I couldn't think of a better way to inform people of what it's like to live with diabetes 365 days a year.
The idea behind this Diabetes365 project is that I'll take one picture every day of the year. I'll post it to the flickr Diabetes365 pool and blog about it briefly.
Would you like to take part in Diabetes365? You can join the flickr pool provided that you post a picture there each day (or wait a few days and post several pictures, one per day). Each picture must be tagged with diabetes365 and titled with the date taken and which day of your year of photos it is. If you'd like to blog your photos, feel free to do that also.
Let's see if we can't raise a little awareness about diabetes and what it takes to live 24x7x365 with this disease.
Apparently there's a photo project currently underway. It runs from September 17th through September 23rd and it's organized by the same people who brought you the best-selling A Day in the Life and America 24/7 books.
It's actually called America at Home. But I thought, why not make part of it be Diabetes at Home?
After all there are a lot of Americans living 24 by 7 with diabetes. And it impacts our lives from the moment we get up in the morning till after we fall asleep at night.
Thursday is Dinner Time. Maybe you can cover how you test your blood sugar and bolus before dinner to cover the meal.
And this Sunday is Bedtime Rituals. How about set changes, or making sure you can hear the CGM alarm if it goes off at night for one of your children, or night-time testing while your kids are asleep?
Also, any day you like you can just submit general photos. Maybe show how we all live normal lives despite what we drag along with us because of diabetes. And I'm not just talking about supplies here.
Please submit quality photographs that are likely to be considered for the book. I've also created a Flickr group, Diabetes at Home, where you can also upload your entries for all to see.
Maybe we'll have a real competition there, let me know what you think about that idea.
Sorry for not noticing this sooner. What are you waiting for? Get shooting.
The Diabetes Technology Blog is focused on using technology to life better with diabetes. I review: blood glucose monitors; continuous glucose monitor; blood sugar meters; diabetes software and living with diabetes.
About Me
Name: Bernard Farrell
Location: Massachusetts, United States
I was born in Ireland and now live in the US.
I have had Type 1 diabetes for over 35 years. I struggle with my blood sugar, the same as most people with diabetes.
I wear a Cozmo 1800 insulin pump and a Dexcom SEVEN CGM to track my blood glucose levels. I also take Symlin to help control my post-meal blood sugars.
I'm blessed by God, and every day brings the possibility of a cure.
