D•blog
I might not call diabetes a game, but it might be more fun that way
I only recently discovered an interactive mobile phone app that came out last year called "DiabetesIQ". It's intended, through games and tests, to help you connect managing diabetes to everyday life. It works with the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Droid. It was developed by the University of California, San Francisco Diabetes Teaching Center and QuantiaMD, and it's free. I happen to know QuantiaMD. They are the largest mobile and online free physician community helping to reshape medical practice. I've done a number of presentations through them regarding developing a personal support network and answering HCPs questions about how to help patients change behavior.
But I digress, DiabetesIQ follows a quiz-show format where you answer multiple-choice questions and see how your answers compare to others' in real-time. Example: "How does regular daily exercise affect insulin?" or "What happens when you combine dancing with alcohol?" I know I dance better, but that's probably not the right answer ;-)
Here's one more because it is kinda fun to test your knowledge: "What would be best to eat, for instance, if you are exercising and want to prevent low blood sugar. Would that be:
1. A banana or fruit juice?
2. Peanut butter or cheese?
3. A chocolate bar?
4. Diet soda?
5. All of the above?
Years ago, for me, it would have been all of the above. Luckily, I've changed my ways. If you don't know the answer, it's time to not just get the app, but put my new book coming out this fall on your reading list - Diabetes Do's & How-To's. You'll simply learn what you need to do to stay well with diabetes, and how to do it. Important stuff!
Are you sowing the seeds for later regrets now?
I've just become aware of a book I'm eager to read but haven't yet got my hands on. Even so, I thought it worth telling you about it. It's called, The Top Five Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware. Bronnie became a palliative nurse after doing many other things in her life and spent a lot of time with people who were in their last days.
I'm not attracted to books like this because I have a ghoulish side, but because I think life is short - easy to do since I'm approaching 60 - and living with diabetes, one wonders will life be even shorter?
I like to know what people value at the end of their lives and what they think they would have done differently given the opportunity to do it all again. Of course, we can never really know if we'd do something differently in the moment without the benefit of hindsight, but still…
So while I haven't yet read the book, I thought you might enjoy reading the article as I just did. It tells what the top five things are that people regret.
I won't spoil the surprise. I'll just let you know that while I've been finishing writing my third book, Diabetes Do's and How To's which you will love -- it's just the actions what you need to do to be healthy with diabetes, and how to do them, available this fall--I will tell you I wish I'd made more time for regret number 4.