Remembering Judy Reich
The Diabetes Community lost a great advocate and friend this week. Judy Reich, who faced life with diabetes with incredible dignity and grace for more than 50 years, died on Wednesday with her husband, Gary, by her side. Judy was an unabashedly proud resident of Las Vegas and had an illustrious career in the Nevada broadcasting industry. She was honored as an inductee into the Nevada Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame in the year 2000. Judy was also heavily involved in local diabetes advocacy as a volunteer with the JDRF, and was a former chair of the Las Vegas chapter. I was fortunate enough to get to know Judy over the years through our interactions in the Diabetes Online Community. We bonded over…
9 Years
Today marks 9 years of life with diabetes and congestive heart failure for me. It’s been a crazy journey, and the events of the last month have been a reminder of just how fortunate I am to have come this far. Cheers, folks!
The Costs of a Chronic Illness
It’s day two of Diabetes Blog Week, and today we talk about the costs of living with a chronic illness. Today’s prompt: 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? Today’s prompt is timely, as the costs of living with diabetes have been a hot button issue as of late. The costs of…
Adding a Dexcom to my Diabetes Toolbox
So, back in December, I had a chance to test drive a Dexcom continuous glucose monitor (CGM) through my Endocrinologist’s office. I had been curious about the device and my Endo wanted to capture some data to get a better idea as to what adjustments we needed to make to my insulin dosages, etc… So, I met with the diabetes educator in the office, was trained and setup with the Dexcom, and then spent a week using it to track my numbers, insulin, carbs, exercise, etc… It was a good experience overall, and I definitely saw the potential benefits using a Dexcom on a regular basis. And I really wasn’t ready to give it back after a week. In early…
Eight Years with a Confusing Pancreas and a Broken Heart
Today is the 8th anniversary of my initial diagnosis with diabetes and congestive heart failure. My, what a long and trying eight years it has been, too. So much has happened since that fateful day. So many changes in my life, my diagnosis, and my treatments. Change is so often hard to accept. Admittedly, this last year has been a real struggle for me as I’ve worked to come to terms with my misdiagnosis and the changing of my label from type 2 diabetes to latent autoimmune diabetes in adults, or LADA. On one hand, the change has been positive in that I’ve gained access to different treatment options, more supplies, etc… On the other hand, though, it has had the negative effect of leaving…
