D is for Diabetes; D is for Deadpool
THIS JUST IN.I am eligible to join the X-Force. Why, you ask? Because Deadpool is looking for someone with diabetes to round out his team in a recent trailer for Deadpool 2.I suppose it ' s better Peter than me, though. I would not look so badass jumping out of an airplane. I ' d be too busy peeing my pants in terror, I think.Insulin-resistant Type 1 counts as both Type 1 and Type 2, right? Maybe they ' ll hire me for some behind-the-scenes snarky hero stuff. It would be like a fanfiction crossover in which I ' m Penelope Garcia from Criminal Minds. It could work.Deadpool--call me! Just give me a minute to answer in case I...
Source: Dorkabetic - May 15, 2018 Category: Endocrinology Authors: Hannah McDonald Source Type: blogs
The Three Little Pumps
Once upon a 2018, a Type 1 like myself had three pump choices...Pump A: Tubeless. Doesn ' t hold enough for my insulin needs. A big no.Pump B: My current brand. I like it, but I ' ve never loved it. I may have lied and told someone that I loved it. It has some physical problems that have happened to me consistently, causing me to have traded my pump in at least 3 times before my warranty expired. The physical issue means that I have to have assistance with changing my cartridge. My hands are not strong enough to slide the cartridge on or take it off by myself--I usually have Matt do it for me. I want to avoid this problem ...
Source: Dorkabetic - March 28, 2018 Category: Endocrinology Authors: Hannah McDonald Source Type: blogs
THIS JUST IN: Controlling Your Diabetes = Not Medically Necessary
CONTENT WARNING: Sarcasm ahead along with non-sarcasm. Good luck." Dear Member:The purpose of this letter is to confirm that pre-auth [for your insulin pump with CGM] has been denied for the following reason(s):Your provider asked us to provide a special type of insulin pump that can also continuously monitor your blood sugar. This was requested to help control your diabetes. This request has been denied as not medically necessary. "Neat! Did you guys know controlling your diabetes isn ' t medically necessary? Wow, what a relief. All this time I ' ve been worrying about this garbage A1C that I have, but it turns out I shou...
Source: Dorkabetic - March 17, 2018 Category: Endocrinology Authors: Hannah McDonald Source Type: blogs
Disruptive, Unique, Beautiful and Diabetic
Are you still out there, readers? I assume that you are. I ' ve remained quiet in my little space here. Why? It ' s hard to say. There are a plethora of reasons.People are saying that blogging is dead; long live blogging.Every blogging site is promising a " beautifully designed " and " unique " and " amazing " blog/site/whatever. But content is always king, right? I should give you some content to read.Over ten years ago, when I started Dorkabetic, we (the Diabetes Online Community) were all blogging away, meeting each other via comments sections and daily readership. Now the DOC is so huge I can ' t keep up. I remember wh...
Source: Dorkabetic - March 1, 2018 Category: Endocrinology Authors: Hannah McDonald Source Type: blogs
National Poetry Month, Diabetes Edition.
Aside from the spacing/kerning that makes me twitchy, after who knows how long, I finally wrote a poem about diabetes I ' m mostly pleased about. It ' s freeverse. It ' s meant to be performed [if I like it, maybe I ' ll video?] aloud. I originally posted this to Facebook, but have since taken it down so I can share it more widely (and hopefully more copyrighted-ly) with you.to Anyone Who Has Ever Said "Needles!... "I just blink pleasantly as you finish,Because I know your monologue by heart:" Ohhh, I don ' t know if I could ever do that.Needles are the worst! I ' d be so afraid! "I ' m not here to belittle a legitimate ph...
Source: Dorkabetic - April 12, 2017 Category: Endocrinology Authors: Hannah McDonald Source Type: blogs
Election Day USA 2016
Shred the Patriarchy.Let it be known that I ' m voting for the candidate who will not completely repeal Obamacare and the many steps forward it has produced for healthcare in this country. I ' m voting for the candidate who has fought for people with disabilities and health conditions, never mocking them or telling the terminally ill to not bother voting.I ' m a Nasty Woman, one who has a nasty chronic illness and knows how nasty health insurance is in this country. I ' m old enough to remember hearing that " we need healthcare, not HillaryCare " .I don ' t know what ' s to come for this country. I know everything Hillary ...
Source: Dorkabetic - November 7, 2016 Category: Endocrinology Authors: Hannah McDonald Source Type: blogs
Political News of the Day: Semi-Fictional Characters Edition
(A non-diabetes related post for your amusement.)Watching the first Presidential debate last night definitely required the gin and tonic I had in my hand. I was glad to hear that Hillary Clinton picked up on several of the issues addressed by Bernie Sanders during his campaign, and I was almost heartened by Trump ' s first ten seconds of speech--but then of course that turned into the shit-show we were expecting. Over-talking. Mansplaining. Using words like " bigly " . Many of us saw it, tweeted about it, or at least saw the highlights and the tweets. My achievement of the night was the joke I made. Trump stated ...
Source: Dorkabetic - September 26, 2016 Category: Endocrinology Authors: Hannah McDonald Source Type: blogs
Nominated Lady
Thanks to some amazing reader or readers out there, I was just nominated for aWego Health Activist Award as " Best Kept Secret "! I ' m not trying to be a secret over here, but maybe I need to take off this mask? Turns out I ' m not actually Catwoman! (Sorry if you thought I was.)I am Hannah, hear me roar! Ten years in this blogging game. Today, I am celebrating this little victory. (Source: Dorkabetic)
Source: Dorkabetic - September 8, 2016 Category: Endocrinology Authors: Hannah McDonald Source Type: blogs
Occlusion Conclusion
"Argh, I know!" I say out loud to no one in particular. The "someone" I'm addressing is my Tandem t:slim insulin pump, tucked securely in my bra. BEEP BEEP BEEP! is the response I receive.I've been feeling kind of weird and overly tired for the past couple of weeks, and I realize my pump keeps throwing occlusions. Can I tell you how much I hate occlusions?For those not in the know, an occlusion is basically a clog somewhere in your pump line. It can be caused by kinked tubing. It can be caused by the cannula getting bent in your infusion set. It can be caused by some invisible factor (seriously, I can't see what 3/4 of the...
Source: Dorkabetic - March 29, 2016 Category: Endocrinology Authors: Hannah McDonald Source Type: blogs
For Kycie, David, and all the other kids who didn't make it.
I could have been them. Taken from this earth far too young, before I ' d even hit double-digits in age. < div > < br / > < /div > < div > I can only remember bits and pieces of the day I was diagnosed. I ' m not even sure what the exact day was, but it was in July of 1990. I couldn ' t breathe. My mom and dad rushed me to my pediatrician right away, where I started throwing up bile. I remember being hurried from the pediatrician ' s office to the hospital, right across the street. I can recall being a little scared, and a lot uncomfortable. < br / > < br / > I was eight years old. All I knew was that I wanted someone to f...
Source: Dorkabetic - July 12, 2015 Category: Endocrinology Authors: Hannah McDonald Source Type: blogs
For Kycie, David, and all the other kids who didn't make it.
I could have been them. Taken from this earth far too young, before I'd even hit double-digits in age.I can only remember bits and pieces of the day I was diagnosed. I'm not even sure what the exact day was, but it was in July of 1990. I couldn't breathe. My mom and dad rushed me to my pediatrician right away, where I started throwing up bile. I remember being hurried from the pediatrician's office to the hospital, right across the street. I can recall being a little scared, and a lot uncomfortable.I was eight years old. All I knew was that I wanted someone to fix me, and the whole thing felt very surreal. I learned I was ...
Source: Dorkabetic - July 12, 2015 Category: Endocrinology Authors: Hannah McDonald Source Type: blogs
Take This Diabetes and Shove It
An Ad, to Be Placed on Freecycle or the Giveaway Section of CraigslistFree to a Good [or Bad] Home - Type 1 Diabetes (Philadelphia or Anywhere)The beta cells in my pancreas quit working after 8 short years. My immune system attacked them, and instead of going back to doing their f**king job, they decided to just sit and panhandle around the Islets of Langerhans, like that's some kind of vacation for them. I've tried to give diabetes a chance for 25 years, but you know what? I'm done.Surely there is some soul out there who would like to adopt my diabetes and give it a good home. Or maybe you know an unsuspecting Men's Right...
Source: Dorkabetic - May 20, 2015 Category: Endocrinology Authors: Hannah McDonald Source Type: blogs
The Darker Days of Fall
Autumn is usually my favorite season. It's the time of year when the chill that I so love comes back into the air, when everything feels crisp, and rich colors dress the trees. I am one of those people who's into pumpkin spice lattes and chai, fresh seasonal apples and of course, cider. Halloween is usually a treat for me because I adore dressing up in costumes. But you may notice I've been absent from blogging about how it's okay to eat candy at Halloween with diabetes. You haven't yet seen any silly posts wherein I dress up my insulin vials. Actually, you haven't seen any posts from me at all since mid-September.I'm...
Source: Dorkabetic - October 27, 2014 Category: Endocrinology Authors: Hannah McDonald Source Type: blogs
Waiting on the Retina Specialist...
...and my whole day has been like:If it's not one thing, it's another. (Source: Dorkabetic)
Source: Dorkabetic - September 18, 2014 Category: Endocrinology Authors: Hannah McDonald Source Type: blogs
On the Market
I had a job interview this afternoon. I think it went well, but it's always difficult to tell with such things.I once had a job interview which ended in me being asked when I could start, and they said they'd contact me about when I could come in to fill out my hire paperwork. They never called me. Not even an email.One time, I submitted a resume to a company and was called back that same afternoon for an interview the following day. Then I had a second interview a couple of days later. Needless to say, I nailed it.So this time? I don't know. Everyone was very pleasant, and as I said, I think it went smoothly. Fingers cros...
Source: Dorkabetic - July 22, 2014 Category: Diabetes Authors: Hannah McDonald Source Type: blogs
