Thursday, May 29, 2014

Mom! It looks like I've Been Shot...Again

In honor of Throwback Thursday, here is a humorous post from May 4th, 2010. Enjoy!

Last night I wrestled my son to the ground and later heard about the consequences. You see said child, admitted that no he hadn't been spending his time mulling over the perfect gifts to purchase for his devoted mother for either Mother's Day or her birthday.  In some countries I am sure his actions would have constituted a hanging offense but in our house in meant that I tackled him, interrupted his Wii game, pinned him down and tickled him.  Thankfully I still have a few pounds and an inch or two on him so I can still win. 


The downside to this fun when you have a child on an insulin pump who wears sites in his leg is obvious to those of us who live there.  After the screams of "I've gotta pee!!!!", came the grumblings of "You pulled out my site!".  With the cost of pump supplies being covered for us, it felt good to say "Well, just go and change it."  Once upon a time, I would have cried at the $20+ that I had just wasted even if it was in the name of fun. 


Being a teen, my son was in no rush to change the site and Mom had visions of highs for the rest of the evening.  The longer he waited, the less insulin he would get, the higher his bg levels would climb I was sure.  Again, being a teen and being my son, he stated that the site was salvageable and he had simply taped it in place.  I was worried.  Was the site really still in? Yes he assured me as he headed off to the shower.  His grumbling about being bested by his mother had been replaced by the comment that if Mom could wrestle him then wrestling with his brother should once again be allowed (It was discontinued after brother's elbow met son's eye and left a nasty shiner).  I attempted to burst his bubble but he still was quite proud of his logic as he headed off for his marathon shower. 


Once he undressed he proclaimed "Mom, I look like I have been shot!"  What did that mean? He told me that there was blood all over his leg.  I said that was it, the site was gone! He had to change it.  He proceeded to shower and I never got to really check out the damage.  He kindly left the dead and bloodied site in the shower for me though.  Ironically he was disgusted when he found it on top of an envelope later.  I had taken a picture and left it for him. He told me that the site should be in the garbage! Um, who left it in the shower to start with? Oy!

Monday, May 26, 2014

Another Corner Turned

The weekly bg reading review that I had dictated in September has long gone by the wayside. I occasionally ask about readings on the phone or over text conversations but I try to keep it to a minimal.  If my son gets into real trouble, he calls or texts me with his SOS.  Diabetes care is remaining in the periphery of our relationship as he strives to make it on his own. We still talk about care and I still like to know what is going on but I think I truly have turned a corner in my new role and acceptance of it.

A couple of weeks ago, I suggested that we have a phone conversation about his readings in the coming days.  My son told me that he had an upcoming appointment with his CDE.  I then suggested that we wait until after the appointment and then we could discuss what was or wasn’t done and see how we felt about it.

My son thought that was a great idea and we set our new date to chat.  Last week that day arrived.  I knew that my son’s readings had been uploaded by his educator (my son has managed to lose two cables for his pump and I feel bad contacting our rep for a third one). I went online to see what the readings looked like.

As I opened the screen I laughed and laughed.  There were a lot of boluses and insulin cartridge fills but I only saw two readings. I laughed some more! For a change, it was not me who got to look at no data and try to sort things out. It wasn’t me to go…”What gives?” only to be told that he had used other meters but didn’t have them with him. This was not my problem.  I laughed some more
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It felt good to have that burden lifted. Whether there were or were not readings, I was not the one who would bang their head in frustration and begin the tedious task of trying to track down information. The smile remained on my face.

Later that evening I called my son and we discussed his appointment.  It had gone well. He had readings on a different meter and the two of them had discussed the area my son knew was a problem.  My son was pleased that he wasn’t told what to do but asked his opinion on the problem.  Suggestions were made by both parties and my son left happy.

Mom wasn’t needed.  For a change, that felt okay.  My son was happy. He had made his own decisions. He had been able to talk to someone about his care and share his knowledge. It was a win-win situation as far as I could tell.

I will still call and talk readings. I will still be here to troubleshoot and to cheer from the sidelines but my son really is taking charge. He can do this. I always knew he could but the fact that he is doing it makes me feel a bit better…well for today anyway.
corner

Friday, May 23, 2014

Age Shouldn't Matter

Last week, during blog week, I told you about things that get my dander up and make me want to scream from the roof tops until they are fixed. One of those things was access to insulin pumps and supplies. Since the day that I realized that there were more options available to my son than the insulin regimen we were currently on, I was adamant that all people with diabetes should have choice in their treatment options.

People living with diabetes should be able to decide if they want to use Lantus over NPH. They should be able to choose Apirdra over regular insulin.  They should be able to see if a Continuous Glucose Monitor or an insulin pump is for them without having to sell their home. That sounds extreme doesn’t it? Sadly it isn’t.  Despite living in Canada with its socialized medicine, Canadians are still not always able to access the best treatment options for them.  They may not have private health insurance or their insurance may not cover the devices that they desire to use.  The result is that they go without or go to extreme measures to get the medical tools that they desire to keep them healthy. For me, that is not acceptable.

My son began using an insulin pump 11 years ago.  I had wanted a pump for him since the first time I heard of the flexibility that it allowed but financially it was not an option.  His father had medical insurance but insulin pumps were not covered. What changed 11 years ago? My family stepped in and said that they would come together to pay for the pump.  They wanted the very best for my son.  It is a moment that I will never forget.

Over time things have changed thankfully. Provinces have begun to cover insulin pumps–for children.  Those over 18 have had to find good insurance, high paying jobs, go back to injections out of necessity rather than choice or move to Ontario (the first province to cover all people with Type 1 diabetes who wished to use insulin pump therapy).  In my own province of Newfoundland and Labrador, changes have been made as well, the age limit for assistance was moved to 25.

Today my son is 16.  He is heading into his final year of high school and looking at career options. The most important part of his career choice is to find one that is either very high paying or offers great benefits. What he enjoys seems to be second on our list. That is discouraging and gets my dander up.

If a person wishes to use an insulin pump to best control their diabetes care, then they should have that option.  Age, financial status, or occupation should not dictate what type of therapy they can receive.  With this in mind, advocates in provinces like British Columbia have created petitions to ask their government to expand coverage and remove age restrictions. Pensioners are having to go back to injections because their private health care coverage ends at retirement.  Young adults who are beginning careers and new families are having to rethink how they will move forward because of cost constraints brought on by managing their diabetes care
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This is not right.  Age should not dictate whether you get an insulin pump or not.  Insulin pumps provide just as many benefits to adults as it does to children.  Adults with type 1 diabetes who are using insulin pumps often find shift work much more manageable.  They tend to see less diabetes related down time because they can micro manage their disease with greater ease.  The addition of Continuous Glucose Monitoring systems to their care can help them to anticipate dangerous highs or lows that could have otherwise sent them home for the day.  Increased productivity and work time for people with diabetes has a larger impact on society as well. People living with diabetes who are able to work are able to contribute to the provincial tax coffers through their employable earnings.  They are less likely to have complications or dangerous blood glucose swings that could send them to the hospital.  Our young people with diabetes are able to look at jobs in the province rather than having to move to areas with better pay and better benefits.

The rewards definitely outweigh the costs to the provincial governments and our health care systems. With this in mind, I have created a petition that will ultimately be presented to the government of Newfoundland and Labrador asking that they expand their insulin pump program.

Please consider signing and sharing this petition.  The more voices we have, the stronger we are.  This is a very serious and real issue.  The stories and needs behind the petition are heart breaking.  I have spoken to a government employee who have had to rent out her homes so that she can have extra money to be able to afford her diabetes supplies.  I have listened to medical personnel who have had to rely on financial help from a life partner in order to continue pumping.  I have sat down with members of the police services who pay the equivalent of an extra car payment each month just to keep themselves pumping and healthy.  There are also people who are in minimum wage jobs who have no choice but return to injections after they turn 25 because they just can’t afford to pay for their rent and their insulin pump.

This needs to change. With your help it will. Please support this initiative for all of those who choose to use an insulin pump.
NL pump petition

Thursday, May 22, 2014

The Bad Kind

The other day, I sat down to begin reading Ginger Vieira’s new book “Dealing with Diabetes Burn-out“.  I had only read the introduction when I wanted to cry.  Why is there so much judgement surrounding diabetes? Why do people living with diabetes feel that they are either good or bad? Well, as Ginger points out, its because there is so much good and bad mentioned when talking about the disease.

Your readings are good or bad.  They are not the result of a carb counting error or a pending illness that you cannot foresee. They are a good reading or a bad one.  The food you eat is either good food or its bad and a diabetic shouldn’t eat it.  Your A1c when you see the doctor is either good or bad.

The constant judgement does not end there. I was listening to a conversation a few weeks ago and quietly cringed as I heard someone mention that a person had diabetes “really bad”.  Another person had mentioned that someone had died because they had the “bad kind of diabetes”.  I wanted to say that there is no good kind!  You can only hope and pray that a person with diabetes has all of the knowledge, supports and tools that they need to care for themselves in the best possible way.  It wasn’t my place to educate at that time.

The good kind I assume, is the kind that is managed by diet and exercise  but is it really that good? You still have to live with guilt for each piece of food that enters your mouth.  You must be constantly wondering when that bullet will hit its target and you will get the dreaded sentence–”You have the bad kind of diabetes”.

What is the “bad kind of diabetes”? Is it when you have to have needles? Is it when you are on pills? Is it when you are overweight? Is it when you are two and don’t know why you have to be stabbed and poked at all of the time? Is it when you have to be hooked up to a machine 24/7? When does it become “bad”?

Personally, it is always bad.  In all of those cases, our bodies have rebelled against us and are not working as they should.  We have to fight and struggle to compensate. Using insulin actually can make it easier not worse. Modern insulins allow people with diabetes to be able to match insulin to food amounts in a way that their body, without insulin, can’t.  That’s not such a bad thing. It allows them to have that piece of chocolate cake without concern of a crazy high a few hours later.

This distinction between “good and bad” actually has a negative impact on treatment as well. While insulin injections or insulin pumps are not an option for a person living with Type 1 diabetes, it is often seen as a last resort for a person with Type 2 diabetes.  Sadly this is not the case.  Studies have shown that giving a person with Type 2 diabetes insulin earlier can actually preserve some of their beta cell functioning and make their lives a little easier.  Unfortunately, that “good and bad”  issue stops that from happening. People fear that they will be “bad” if they are on insulin.  This further translates to the thought that  those who live with Type 1 diabetes and need an external source of insulin to keep them alive must have it “really bad”.

I thought about other diseases and wondered if any others have it “bad”.  Cancer has stages.  Diseases like MS are referred to has having “full blown MS” versus the early stages.  I could not think of any other disease that allows people to have the “good kind” or the “bad kind”.  Is it the lifestyle component but if it is why do we not hold that same standard for other “life style” related diseases? Is it because in the other diseases they understand that lifestyle is only a small component? People will say that Type 1 diabetes is NOT a lifestyle related disease but that does not stop the public from blaming the lifestyle of the mother of a person with diabetes.  We are blamed for things like not breastfeeding long enough and other equally ridiculous notions.

What is the answer? How do we fix this? I don’t think that there is a quick fix.  I think that we continue as we have been. We educate people who ask us if we have the “bad kind of diabetes”.  We work with the media when they try to get it right. We are kind but firm with those people who are ignorant of the facts because we may have once been ignorant as well. Finally, we find a cure so that no one ever again has to be judged because their body has failed them.
blame

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Looking from a distance


Diabetes Blog Week
Today is Saturday’s snapshots. At first I was a bit troubled by this.  What does my life with diabetes look like these days? Well its different than even one year ago.  Should I show pictures of my son’s life? I decided that I shouldn’t.  My pictures would be of my life with diabetes…living with it at a distance.

Now when I find test strips at the bottom of my purse, I don’t swear and wonder how they got there, I think of my youngest son and smile instead.
IMG_1553IMG_1554


















My conversations are often done via text rather than in person…

















IMG_1494But we still get a chance to spend time together and share care when we can.

Friday, May 16, 2014

Hello...I am a Glucometer

Diabetes Blog Week
Write a short story personifying a diabetes tool you use on a daily basis. A meter, syringe, pump, pill, etc. Give it a personality and a name and let it speak through you. What would it be happy about, upset about, mad about?  (Thank you Heather of Unexpected Blues for this topic.)

Hello, my name is Fred and I am a glucometer.  You would think with a job as important as mine that I would get a lot of respect but I don’t.  I am shoved in dark pockets, thrown around and basically taken for granted. Its a very rough life.

I am expected to be ready for service at all times of the day. It doesn’t matter if I worked hard all day, they still expect me to be bright-eyed and shining at three in the morning. And when I say shining, I mean that they really want me to light up all nice and bright showing them glowing pretty numbers. When they are done with me, they just toss me off to the side again.

My job is tireless.  They smear blood all over me.  They curse at me when they don’t like what the reading is.  Like that is my fault? How is it that I control what their blood glucose is going to be? I deserve a lot more respect.

The only time I get respect is when the parents or the doctor take a look at me.  They know how important I am.  They look at my display as if they are reading a holy gospel.  They value me and my knowledge.  My owner? Well, he looks at me like I am a rock, a burden that he is forced to carry around. I am the unwanted younger brother that he has to take everywhere.

Why does he have to think of me that way? It hurts my feelings. I am just trying to do my job. I am trying to work with him to keep him healthy.  I know that it can be tedious. It’s not picnic for me either. I mean, I have to be on all of the time! There is no time when I can be just a little less accurate. I have to bring my A-game every time we meet.  Its exhausting but I don’t get any praise or appreciation.

He just doesn’t get it and some times I get mad as well and when I do, I get even in my own way.  When he just grumpily and shoves a strip in me and expects me to instantly produce results, I come back and tell him “Error 4″.  Oh does that get his goat! He has to retest and take his time to treat me a little nicer–getting all of his blood just so on the test strip so that I will read it for him.  After he has done that, I reward him by saying “HI” but he doesn’t often see the humor in that one. I don’t understand why.  Isn’t it important to be friendly now and then? Perhaps if he could be a little nicer, we could work together a bit better and I wouldn’t have to resort to cheap jibes.

Maybe one day he will get it. One day he might understand how important I am! Oh well, at least he takes me most places. I usually only hear about the spots that we go to from the inside of a pocket but at least I get to tag along.  It’s not easy being me.  I guess it’s not easy being him either, but I still say, “work with me dude! It will make things so much easier!”  Darn! I shouldn’t have said that so loud, here comes another check. Back to work!

hi meter

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Four Hours, Just Four Hours

Diabetes Blog WeekYesterday we opened up about how diabetes can bring us down. Today let’s share what gets us through a hard day.  Or more specifically, a hard diabetes day.  Is there something positive you tell yourself?  Are there mantras that you fall back on to get you through?  Is there something specific you do when your mood needs a boost?  Maybe we’ve done that and we can help others do it too? (Thanks to Meri of Our Diabetic Life for suggesting this topic.)

Is there a mantra that I fall back on to get me through a hard diabetes day? Absolutely! It is one that I share with newly diagnosed adults and parents who are struggling to get through. I remind them to look at life in four-hour blocks. If you take everything in four-hour strides and you can ride through anything.

When diabetes seems to be kicking your butt every morning, look at how things are going between lunch and supper. Are things okay? Give yourself a mental high-five and celebrate that victory rather than dwelling on the post-breakfast spike that this threatening to drive you over the edge.

Do overnights seem overwhelming? Again, break it down.  How are things from snack until 12 or 1am? What is life like in the deepest part of the night? Are things settled before breakfast or has chaos been awakened in those four hours? If you break it down into six four-hour periods, life becomes a bit more manageable and instead of seeing all of the bad, you can savor some of the good.

Why do I have a four-hour mantra? Because early on I learned that my son’s Humalog was supposed to last about 4 hours.  He was injected at 8am for breakfast, then at noon for lunch, around 5pm for supper and then again at 9pm for his nighttime snack.  I was going crazy trying to see a perfect 24 hour day. I realized that looking at a complete day was never going to make me happy. The only way to see success was to look at small chunks of time.  Coincidentally, that was also how we would make changes to his regimen.  Was his breakfast ratio of carbs to insulin off? How about at bedtime? Life was naturally being broken down into 4 hour chunks for me so why not work with that?

Now I know some of you will say, but we are using a pump so that won’t work for me.  Yes it will!  Chances are high that you are still doing things like having breakfast, lunch and supper.  You are probably still going to bed at one point as well. All of these events can be broken down and again my four-hour mantra applied.  Was I a successful pancreas this afternoon? Yes? AWESOME!! Let’s break out the happy dance!!! Did I have an issue after supper? Okay, let’s look at what can be done.

Life is less overwhelming in four-hour shots. It can be applied it outside of diabetes as well.  Are you wanting to change your eating habits? Did you have a great breakfast? Pat yourself on the back. Over did it at lunch? Do better tomorrow. Can you see how easily this works?

Life can be overwhelming.  As we discussed yesterday, life with diabetes can make it worse.  Taking life four hours at a time has allowed me to focus on what I need to change and to praise myself when I get it right…and we all need a lot more praise in our lives.
clock

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Fighting the Darkness

Diabetes Blog Week 
May is Mental Health Month so now seems like a great time to explore the emotional side of living with, or caring for someone with, diabetes. What things can make dealing with diabetes an emotional issue for you and / or your loved one, and how do you cope? (Thanks go out to Scott of Strangely Diabetic for coordinating this topic.)

I love being part of Diabetes Blog Week because of the vast array of topics that make you stretch yourself, think and explore new avenues.  Today’s topic is one that is very personal and very difficult. I have dealt with some of the dark issues surrounding being a parent and living with a child with diabetes in last year’s webinar “Normal is Just a Setting on the Dryer” as well as throughout my blog over the years.

Most likely you have heard about the strong correlation of diabetes and depression for people living with the disease.  Diabetes presents many management challenges in learning how to be a pancreas.  It presents financial challenges in being able to afford the best care to be able to obtain your best bg levels.  Diabetes is often looked upon as something that the patient themselves caused.  Bg levels and A1cs are often judged as “good” or “bad”.  It is therefore not surprising that the stigmas and challenges of the disease can quickly become overwhelming.

As a parent, we do not have the same direct issues as our children with live with diabetes but in some respects perhaps its a bit worse because we carry the blame for it all. We ache when our child is having to deal with any of those issues. We desperately want to take all of the pain away from them.  We feel that we would gladly carry this disease to save them such pain and anguish.

Parents struggle with their guilt.  How did we let this happen to our child? What could we have done differently? Should we have breastfed longer? Was it a vaccine that caused this? Did we pass along faulty genes? It is our job to protect our children and we may feel that we have failed to protect them in the most profound of ways…we allowed them to develop type 1 diabetes.
Now I know intuitively that this is not the case. I know that I did not cause my son’s disease but was it my fault that he was so sick before he went into the hospital? I am educated. Shouldn’t I have known something was wrong? If I am honest, I did know that something was wrong. One day in the summer prior he was pale and sick…but it was just one day and we assumed he had a bug.  Before his diagnosis when he had thrush and was not himself, we had taken him to the doctor.  He said my son was fine.  I did take him back to my own doctor a few days later when things did not improve. I could not have prevented this but still the guilt lurks.

The guilt can get in the way of parenting a child with diabetes as well. We have so many issues swarming in our heads.  We have failed our children once by allowing them to get diabetes (yes, parents may have a bit of a God complex), so now it is vital that we work to keep them as healthy as possible. We get frustrated when our children lapse in their care. We become terrified when they are in the care of someone else. Will they be able to manage? We struggle to find a balance between allowing our children to learn on their own and the need to look after them at all costs.

In my own case, there were times that I would reprimand my son for forgetting a meter or strips when I really should have thought of them myself.  The frustrations of not being able to keep his bg levels always perfect, of seeing him sitting inside waiting for a low to come up when his friends were playing outside, the injustice of him having to carry so many supplies and medical devices just to go to a friend’s house would overwhelm me and boil over into anger at the silliest things. I would then worry that I had left my child with nothing but horrid memories of an ogre parent.

As my son has grown, I have come to my biggest challenge yet…letting go and finding my new place.  For the past 14 years, my one focus has been being a mom.  I managed to stay at home with both of my boys as they grew. I was able to devote a lot of my time to diabetes advocacy efforts and the care of my children which included 24/7 diabetes care for my youngest son.  My nights were spent fighting highs and lows.  My days were spent reminding him to test and bolus and helping him to count carbs.

One day it all changed. My son decided to move back to his home town and felt it was time for him to learn to care for himself. I was lost. I would wake up in the night and there was no one to test. I would sit down at a meal and I didn’t need to count those carbs. Yes, the world of diabetes advocacy still existed but did it still need me? There were many new parents who were just as passionate and they had children at home to speak about.

I had experienced depression before when dealing with a child with diabetes. As I mentioned, the frustration, guilt and anxiety can be overwhelming.  I got through with the help of some amazing online friends as well as supports in my life that were there to pull me out when I got too far down.  It was important for me to talk to people who lived there and got it, as well as people who had no clue but just wanted me to enjoy life with them.  That balance saved me on more than one occasion.

Having my son move away was different. Yes, I had many friends how also had children move away but their children had moved away for school.  Their children were out of high school and they seemed to have strong identities of their own.  I didn’t feel that way. Yes, I had a strong identity but in part that was because I was a parent of a child with diabetes and I spoke firsthand of bg testing and the challenges of raising him. Who was I now? I was not sure. I had started to expand myself and create a new business venture but it was not heading the way I wanted it to…and then my son was leaving. I was now a complete failure. I had no idea how to get out of the darkness this time.

Once again, my heart knew I wasn’t a complete failure or a bad parent (just as it said I was not the reason my son was diagnosed in the first place) but I still felt that way. The move wasn’t personal it was about a young boy wanting to stretch his wings and go back with lifelong friends rather than continue to hang out with his mother in a city that had not provided the same life-long friends. I had to get over myself. It has taken a lot to get used to the change. It has taken a lot to find my new place even in his life.

I don’t have a cure to get out of the darkness that can accompany raising a child with diabetes. I don’t have an answer that has worked for me. I still stumble and wonder “what do I do now?”  I am lucky in that I have a very supportive partner who is patient. I am slowly dipping my foot back into a bit of advocacy work.  I am working to find my way in life.

Diabetes is a challenge in itself but it also brings many hidden challenges for those who live with the disease inside of them as well as for those of us who just carry it in our hearts. The only thing we can do is move forward.  Seek help when you need it–from friends, from family and even from the medical or counseling community. There is nothing wrong with support. It is the only thing that gets us through and its strength can carry us through anything.
candle

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Ode to a Needle


Diabetes Blog Week 
Day two of this year’s blog week asks that we create poetry. I have not done poetry since high school and sadly that was not yesterday.  I therefore cheated and enlisted the help of my children.
This is what we came up with…
syringeNeedles are wonderful
Needles are fine
They poke and jab and and puncture me,
But keep me alive.


Some folks thinks needles are scary;
With that I must agree
But the needles that I must use
Allow me to continue to laugh, and play and be this awesome person–me!



By Liam and Barb…and don’t worry folks, we will not be taking up poetry as a full-time thing

Monday, May 12, 2014

Three Things that Raise My Dander

Diabetes Blog Week
Its Diabetes Blog week once again and I am so excited to be able to participate once again!  Today’s topic comes for Kim of Texting my Pancreas and asks us to discuss diabetes issues that get us really fired up!

Since I began my website many years ago, the issues that I have been passionate about have grown but have always retained one common thread–improving the lives of people living with diabetes.  There have been some successes and there is still a long way to go but watching the diabetes community come together and create change has been the best part of the journey.

The first issue that got my dander up was the inequity I saw years ago in the way people with diabetes were treated when it came to the Disability Tax Credit.  As I worked on this issue, I saw that those who were approved for the credit were people who were able to stand up to the government and were willing to fight for this issue. If you were uncertain or did not know how to take on this battle, you would be denied the credit while your neighbor was approved.  There seemed to be no other logic behind how this credit was applied to people living with diabetes.
With a lot of help from other people living with diabetes and a fabulous mentor, I was able to see this issue change dramatically. Fairness was obtained and change happened to the legislation surrounding this issue. I was very proud of all the works that was done here but there were still more issues to tackle.

As I learned about diabetes and became more involved in the world of advocacy, I came to realize how difficult it was to get an insulin pump if you didn’t have the very best insurance coverage.  Once again I was outraged.  Why should it matter what sort of job you have or where you work to get the best possible care for your diabetes?

Since I first began dealing with this issue, things have changed.  Most provinces in Canada now offer provincial health care coverage for insulin pumps and supplies for all children under the age of 18.  That was great but what about older children who are just starting out in the workforce? Some provinces decided to give these young adults until age 25 to get better insurance…some provinces didn’t.  Today, I continue to work with others to see that all people living with diabetes have access to the best devices available to manage their diabetes care regardless of age. This means that I would like all governments to cover insulin pumps, supplies and Continuous Glucose Monitors for people with diabetes regardless of age.  This will happen in time. I am confident.

No matter what your age or where you live, you deserve access to the very best in medical care.  It is important for governments (and insurance companies) to understand the broad sweeping benefits that come from best care practices. If a person with diabetes is able to maintain their bg control to a close to normal range and they are able to anticipate highs and lows with the aid of CGM technology they are better able to perform at work (which means less down time and more money paid to the government in terms of personal tax), they are less likely to be in the hospital (costing the government money), and more likely to have a better overall life satisfaction which in turn further leads to increased productivity and once again an increase in taxes paid to governments. The cost outlay is far outweighed by the benefits to the system as a whole.

At the moment, I live in a province that covers insulin pumps for people with Type 1 diabetes until they reach the age of 25. It does not cover CGM technology.  I have less than 9 years to advocate for increased funding to cover all people with diabetes regardless of age.  In 9 years my own son will be in the position of having to make very serious and real choices about his diabetes care. We will see this change–for him and for all of the other adults struggling to maintain their health despite the heavy financial costs.

Because my son is still in school and has had diabetes since before he went to school, the third issue that I am passionate about is that of children with diabetes in schools. This issue has seen major changes since I first began talking about it over 10 years ago.  In BC, we have seen the power of grassroots parent organizations who have pressured the government into changing its policy on children with diabetes in schools.  I have seen many more individual boards and provinces begin to seriously look at the issue of protecting the rights of children with diabetes in schools.

Once again, this is an issue that many parents and children are not able to stand up and voice their concerns about themselves. I felt that it was therefore my job to help them.  I would (and do) speak to parents on how best to tackle their schools and their issues. I work with boards to help them understand what needs to be done to create change that is fair and just to all parties involved. This is a very complex issue here in Canada. Our children are not protected by a disabilities act. They are protected by the voices of their parents and other concerned adults…but these voices are powerful and making a difference.

Advocacy has always been something that I am very passionate about. I have felt a strong need to stand up for those who may not be able to stand up for themselves.  I have worked for the past 14 years to ensure that people living with diabetes are all treated fairly with equal access to education, medical devices and supplies.  This is a long road.  It has seen many battles won and I am proud to be able to continue fighting the war along side many incredible people.

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