As you are preparing your third plate for the day – we hope you are watching your blood sugar while enjoying the feast.

Us folks with diabetes are bombarded by supplement advertisements. Not a day goes by without a cinnamon ad trolling the DDG inbox. The crew over at MindBodyGreen published this infographic from a book titled Knowledge is Beautiful by David McCandless. The book looks to analyze data behind the claims made by supplement companies. He even lists them out in a “worth it” area. The results are highly valuable in the world of diabetes management. (more…)

The DDG is getting personal – How is your sex life and does diabetes make things difficult between the sheets? As PWDs, we’re flooded with all things doom and gloom concerning possible complications due to this ridiculous disease. I came across an article that brought to light the “worst case scenarios” diabetes can bring into the bedroom.  I’m saving you some awkward research by listing a few articles with cliff notes addressing what PWDs might face when they decide to jump in the sack.

• Your Sex Life with Diabetes – American Diabetes Association.  “One of the biggest sexual problems men with diabetes face (more…)

At a dinner party this weekend I met a lovely woman I’d heard so much about. Our mutual friend thought we should meet because of my constant rambling about spiritual homework and how it effects every part of my life, including my diabetes.  Sheryl was absolutely delightful – witty, attractive, accomplished, educated and able to share her thoughts and feelings without a care in the world. After dinner, we moved by the fire to partake in a Tarot Card reading. Tarot card readings aren’t for everyone, but my reading revealed a number of recent discoveries shared in previous posts (Sacred Wound).

Death – (more…)

Periodically, I’ll ask Amber about a recent observation about my own T1D life, “When X happens, do you feel like X?” She promptly shoots me a quizzical glance and responds, “You always say things like this to me and I can’t say that I’ve ever experienced that specifically.” If you’re not following me yet, be patient, this is where diabetes gets weird.

Our bodies are complicated. The king of this complexity is the nervous system–especially the sensory feedback. Being a T1D presents unique insights into the nervous system. These insights are everywhere.If you listen carefully, you find your language. Your language is different than mine. It’s full of clues. What drives the language? Blood glucose levels. (more…)

So I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve been doing quite a bit of spiritual homework for the past couple of years. I often talk about this journey with Ryan and my close friends – but today I announce to the world a milestone – my Sacred Wound. In previous posts I mention my new found ability to talk about diabetes and today I had a moment of clarity – Diabetes has been my Sacred Wound and I’m ready to release it.

This journey began in early 2013 when I realized (was informed) my soul energy was at about 30% on a good day.
I immediately started to beat myself up because this is my fault and how in the hell am I going to increase my energy… I started reading. I did a ton of research and won’t bore you with the audio books, mediations and practices, but the journey continues to bring new things to light. A book I started about two months ago, “Calling In The One” by Katherine Woodward Thomas is my newest read. I HATE the title, but have thoroughly enjoyed the concept and homework. The homework for Lesson #12 is what brought me to write this post. (more…)

As today is a very important election day, it made me think of how diabetes has swayed my vote at times.  Not really a conscious decision, but as an intelligent, self employed adult, I had to research the candidates and determine with all of the political bullshit, who actually cared about my well being and pursuit of happiness considering the obstacles I might face with this disease.

In October, 2012, DiabetesMine published an article, The Politics of Diabetes in Election Season. As I read the article, I scrolled down to the comment section and was shocked by an anonymous writer. It spoke to me for a number of reasons.

The anonymous writer shared: As a child, my father coached me from an early age that I could not be an artist, an entrepreneur, a small business owner… in short, he coached me I could NOT be ANYTHING I wanted to be.

The reason for this was simple. I had Type 1 diabetes and unless I worked for a big company, I would never be able to get coverage by myself. (more…)

If you have diabetes, you know the Dawn Phenomenon. Perhaps you haven’t been mindful of its occurrence, unconsciously adjusted for its presence, or have just thrown your hands up in the air in frustration. Before we get into the research behind its existence–close to 200 research articles have been published on this–let’s look at how this usually evolves in a diabetic day. (more…)

Yes. It matters. It runs us. We live that number. We feel that number. We basically are that number.

Could something else matter more thought? I think so. Have we been deceived the whole time? Not exactly. To explain, I’ll use a situation: (more…)

I’m not going to lie, I was never really a Poison fan when all of my friends were plastering their bedroom walls with posters of Bret Michaels and fellow bandmates. I may not understand his style of music, but I can relate to his positive attitude about living with Type 1 diabetes. In this Oprah LifeClass clip, he hits the nail on the head with choosing to get busy living or get busy dying. Attitude is everything and some days are better than others. (more…)