I remember clearly when I received my first insulin Pen. I was going to a camp for kids with diabetes in Sweden (this was my first being in Sweden as a diabetic experience) and was intrigued to see that everybody there was using totally different gear to take care of their diabetes. As opposed to using an insulin syringe and a vial of insulin as I had been doing for the last +/- ten years of my life, they were all using pens.
The pen was a much slicker way of taking insulin. It was designed to look like a normal pen, could be reused for a long time and most importantly allowed the treatment of diabetes to become much of a lifestyle-changing event than a purely medical thing involving syringes. It made a big difference to my life and to this day I still use insulin pens.
I have been trying to gauge how many people use insulin pens today vs. plain old syringe OR the pump. If anybody has any solid numbers I would really like to know what those numbers are.
Either way, I love my pens.
Written by Racing Diabetic on June 14th, 2009 with no comments.
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It only occurred to me a few months ago that being a diabetic of about 24 years – I have a lot to share. Over the last few years I have noticed when speaking to my peers, doctors, kids at Joslin Camp, the neighbor’s kid who just got diabetes that many people have great difficulty dealing with diabetes.
Diabetes has also been something for me which is just part of my life. I was diagnosed with diabetes sometime between three and four years old – I honestly don’t even remember. What I do know is that managing diabetes has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. Testing my blood sugar in front of colleagues, pulling up my shirt at a graduation dinner to take insulin, having to explain shaky hands to a girlfriend has become something which isn’t a big deal – it is sometimes, but I have to just remind myself to deal.
Since I first really got a grasp of how to deal with my diabetes at the Joslin Diabetes Camp it has been my personal mission to not let it stop me from doing anything. I manage it the best possible way I know how – but won’t let it stop me. Not stopping me has meant that I have been able to travel the world, live on four different continents, complete the world’s longest ski-race (together with my dad who was 63 at the time which is a greater achievement in my eyes).
So the intent of this blog is to document my life as diabetic and share as many of my tips and tricks as I can with you. Further, I want this to become a portal for answering and supporting other diabetics so ask away.
/John
Written by Racing Diabetic on May 25th, 2009 with no comments.
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