I was reminded of this while recently at the EASD. Medtronic has been running this campaign for a few years now. It’s called the Big Blue Challenge. Post a video of yourself on social media balancing a blue balloon, while doing an everyday activity, and Medtronic will donate $5 to Life for a Child. Life for a Child is often the only organization that gets much needed insulin and supplies to children in need around the world.

The Big, Blue Challenge has raised $200,000 since 2020 which has been donated to Life for a Child.

All the instructions you need, like how to upload your video, how to let Medtronic know you’ve done it, are here. Medtronic will even send you a balloon.

The main goal of the #BlueBalloonChallenge, is to change people’s perception about diabetes by creating a recognizable metaphor:

“Living with diabetes is like doing everything you do in your daily life while keeping a balloon in the air. It’s a constant balancing act”

I can certainly attest to that, as can we all. Take a look: what can you lose, while you benefit those less well off?

Bastian Hauck above, founder of #dedoc who sponsored my trip to EASD last week.

While at the EASD conference (European Association for the study of diabetes) last week in Hamburg, Germany, diabetes stigma was a large topic of conversation. Not in the scientific programs, of course, but for those of us there as #dedoc voices and several health professional who also realize the damaging consequences of stigma: shame, burden, burnout, guilt, giving up one’s self-management.

Chantel Mathieu, President of EASD, whom I didn’t know before but now so admire, also gave a committed passionate talk why this has to end.

If you would like to contribute to the effort to end diabetes stigma, you can read more about it and sign the petition here. This is a well thought out movement, not just an idea. I was proud to add my name to the list.

Almost weekly my cousin, a psychiatric nurse, sends me another spoof of United Healthcare by Dr. Glaucomflecken on Youtube. While I watch healthcare disintegrate into for profit, assembly line, tests-are-more-important than looking at patients, ophthalmologist and comedian William Flanary, the man behind the Glaucomflecken mask, gives me something worth watching.

I am delighted to be among approximately 25 people with diabetes who will be traveling from all over the world to attend the EASD conference in Hamburg, Germany beginning October 2.

The organization that is sponsoring my, and everyone’s travel expenses, is #dedoc° founded by the amazing Bastian Hauck, who has single-handedly built diabetes social media presence in Europe. I first met Bastian at an International Diabetes Federation conference in 2015 in Vancouver, but only this year did I add myself to his remarkable group of Voices.

Bastian’s insight was that diabetes patient advocates were a sorely missing piece of global scientific conferences and so he set out to change that. Today the Voices can be found at ADA, EASD, ISPAD and ATTD sharing their stories with health professionals, researchers and industry, and bringing back their wealth of gained knowledge to their communities, local and social.

I am proud to take my place among them and be a part of this movement. Below diabetes advocates at IDF’s World Congress in Lisbon last year where Bastian and I caught up. You might guess he’s the tall guy behind me, and you’d be right.

Diego and his mom

I got the text at 8:57 pm last night. “We have an emergency with a family from Panama on holiday in NYC and I thought of you! They’re vacationing until Tuesday and have miscalculated their child’s insulin. They need a pen of rapid and basal insulin. Can you help?” My texter, Pilar Gomez, is the face of type 1 diabetes in Panama, educating, running diabetes camp, being a mom to a daughter with type 1.

So today I spent the morning texting with the family’s mom and we arranged to meet at a diner in Brooklyn for the handover. I, myself, know what it’s like when you think you have no insulin. Several years ago flying from Amsterdam to Copenhagen I thought my insulin had spoiled. I nervously reached out to a fellow type 1, who readily said, “I’ve insulin here for you, don’t worry.” I also have a doctor type 1 friend, who somehow supplies me with vials on a semi-regular basis, as he gets an abundance from his health insurance for free.

There is something magical about being in a situation where you don’t know anyone and you need insulin, and as my new Panamanian mom acquaintance said to me, “an angel appears.” I am fortunate to have angels in my life, and would never want anyone to be in that overwhelming frightening position to not know if their child will have to go without their insulin for days until they get home.

So, I joined my new Panamanian family in the diner booth, answered lots of questions, and shed as much light as I could for them. If Diego, now 12, who got type 1 two years ago, looks after what he eats and stays active, checks his blood sugar and takes his insulin, there’s no reason for him to face what his grandma did too early – death by diabetes. They were all thrilled to hear it.

It was a very good day

This was sent to me by my cousin who is a psychiatric nurse. She says it happens every day. While it’s not about diabetes, I think we can all relate to the constantly changing formulary of drugs, sigh…

You really should give these a go. They’re easy enough to make and delicious. I don’t eat a lot of sweets. Mostly a square or two of really dark chocolate in the evening, but I had a yen to try these when I tripped over them online. And I will make them again.

They’re moist, chewy, chocolatey, high fiber, with no flour and not too many carbs. I have no idea the carb count, maybe you can find it somewhere. The carbs will also be affected by any changes you may make to the recipe. For instance, I always use stevia instead of any sugar or honey or molasses in a recipe. Here, I used three packs of Stevia. Truth is, sometimes that becomes a horrible switch and it doesn’t work at all, but it seemed to work just fine here.

I did use the full 1/2 cup of cocoa powder but I probably used 1/3 of a cup of chocolate, not 1 cup. I just took an 85% dark chocolate bar and cut half of it into little pieces to add to the recipe.

This seems like a perfect recipe to make for the holiday weekend, especially if you bring it somewhere. Trust me, I haven’t yet heard of anyone who knows about black bean brownies, and they will be super surprised by your ingenuity and how delicious they are.

Dexcom G7 inserter above, front and back

You know I’m not in love with the G7. But I did discover one thing that I quite like – you can start a new sensor while the current one is on its last 12 hours. That gives the new sensor 12 hours to get used to your body since sensors activate as soon as you insert them. Since my first 24 hours on a new sensor are mostly inaccurate, most of the time, this is an advantage.

But a word to the wise: When you put on that new sensor don’t throw away the inserter! As I did! Yesterday! And then took the garbage out! Immediately!

Because this morning, when I went to switch over to the new sensor, it asked me for the sensor code. That’s the 4 digits on the back of the sensor, pictured above on the right. It’s not on the box, I can attest to that having examined it multiple times.

So, lucky me, at 7:15 this morning the husband did a dumpster dive and retrieved the bag with the precious inserter. Shortly thereafter we were up and running.

Dexcom G7, I love you, I hate you. But this morning I love the husband all the more for his sheer gallantry.

Last week I was sitting opposite Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer, at the iconic Kellogg’s diner in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I was the face of Medicare recipients, who through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed a year ago today, can now get their insulin for $35/month.

I was joined by two other Brooklynites who have also benefitted from the IRA. Schumer’s team was great, it was a lot of fun to make the video and I’m all for pointing out what’s working in government and healthcare, as there is so much that does not. Besides, I finally got to see what my hair looks like as normally I can only see it from the front

Enjoy, it’s only 3 minutes long.

FACES OF THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT:

You’re going to want to see how the Inflation Reduction Act is helping people one year on.

Here are three incredible stories: pic.twitter.com/tIW6yohVAv

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) August 16, 2023

At today’s 10 day follow up I got a clean bill of health. After the surgical dressing the first four days and a band aid the rest of the time, now a tiny piece of 3M Steri-strip covers the small purple area where you can still see a slight slit. Not only is it to keep the area clean but also minimize scarring. To my surprise the surgeon snipped the stitches open and just pulled them out, no local numbing agent needed as I expected.

Now the instruction is to use my thumb normally but wait two weeks before putting significant weight on it, so another two weeks before going back to my gym class where we use weights and resistance bands.

My fellow diabetes friend, who has had five trigger finger procedures, asked, so was it “Easy-peasy?” I wouldn’t say that exactly, as there was some pain the first few days and I did have to be cautious not to get the area wet (that’s where the husband is extra useful, i.e. doing the dishes), but it certainly wasn’t any major hardship.

No physical therapy needed, just flex and straighten my thumb several times a day. Will there be a scar? I assume so, but kinda small.

Only thing I’d offer is if you have this done or any similar surgical procedure, work with a really good surgeon if you’re able. I am lucky to live in New York City on that front and mine is top of the lot. Thank you Dr. Kim.