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First of all I just want to thank Kim V. over at textingmypancreas.com for interviewing me and featuring me on her blog yesterday. That was beyond awesome for me!

I have been thinking more recently of my diabetic childhood for creating humablog videos. One thing I’ve noticed is that it has been making me much more emotional about it all. Not in a bad way of course. It really feels odd to say but I think I am finally getting into these feelings that I’ve suppressed for so long.
Anytime I listen to stories about people growing up with diabetes I feel so emotional. I know what it feels like. I can recall being at Diabetes Camp this year as a staff member and seeing all of these kids being applauded for learning how to care for their diabetes. It makes me feel so happy, it’s so sweet. I can remember when that was me. I probably acted like I didn’t want the attention but I know for a fact that I was so proud the day I learned to give an injection in my abdomen for the first time. I feel like I get to relive the moments of my past through these young campers.

Recently I’ve been into reading some d-blogs (which are all way awesome by the way). I came across a blog post that had me in tears this morning. It was written by Penny over at A Sweet Grace. She’s a D-mom with a daughter (Grace) who is 9 and has type 1 diabetes. She wrote about a day when Grace went to a pool party and she got to have a taste of “freedom”. If you haven’t read it yet I would suggest you do right now. It’s such a great little story and I loved it. It had me in tears because I can remember when my mother began giving me this “freedom” on my own with my diabetes. Reading this blog gives me another opportunity that I got to relive a moment in my childhood. When I think about my childhood and growing up I can recall when my mom was slowly giving me my “freedom” with D. I may not have succeeded every time I had these opportunities to be alone with D. But I know that I learned something each and every time. I look back and I’m so proud of what I’ve accomplished with this “freedom”.

I can’t help but to wonder what my childhood would have been like without diabetes. Diabetes makes children grow up so fast I know that, but what kind of person would I be today? I actually feel that diabetes helps me understand people more personally sometimes. Am I crazy or can I thank diabetes for somethings in my life?

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Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @rachellynnae

Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube: humaBLOG

Kim V.’s Blog Texting My Pancreas 

       Her post yesterday about humaBLOG

Penny’s Blog A Sweet Grace

      Her Blog post about “freedom” with D

I’ve returned from camp this week! Having returned from Diabetes camp I am really into some new diabetes stuffs. So one of the first things that I did upon returning from my AMAZING camp experience this year (expect a blog about ca

mp soon..promise) is that I purchased a “Diabetic Driver” window cling. 

I know it seems random. But I was looking for some cool stuff to keep in my car in case of lows. (also expect a blog on this topic soon) I found this cool little cling from DAD INNOVATIONS. They were created by a diabetic father and his diabetic daughter right after the daughter got her license. What a great idea and a very creative way of letting people know you have diabetes. Also it could help me meet some more PWD’s and we all know how much I love that. So while that’s on it’s way I suppose I should create my own way of telling fellow drivers I have the D. Anyway I think that this is a very clever idea. What a creative way of letting people in emergency situations know of your condition.

Which brings me to my next D purchase. I bit the bullet and bought a new Medical ID bracelet. I am especially excited for this because I haven’t had any sort of Diabetes Med ID jewelry since I was 9 years old. So needless to say I will be waiting by the mailbox for it to come! I’ve ordered the bracelet from a website called Lauren’s Hope. It’s a really cute website with tons of different styles of Med ID bracelets, and they don’t have to be diabetic med ID bracelets either. When you go to order the bracelet  you are able to type in exactly what you want the back of the Medical Alert tag to say.

So essentially it can be a medical alert for any type of condition. Med ID is very important in medical emergencies especially for diabetics. I have always known that, but I never could find a piece that I would want to wear everyday. I am very grateful that I have found Lauren’s Hope . Once I receive my bracelet that states that I am a Type 1 Diabetic with an insulin pump I will feel much more safe, and my family and friends will feel I am safe. I feel that it’s totally worth the money spent, plus it’s a pretty cool D accessory. (expect twitpics and photo posts as soon as it comes in the mail) 

Anyway that is all I have to say about Medical Alerts and IDs today. They are very important to diabetics because you never know when you’re going to need that extra help from someone. Driving cars are already a dangerous activity, being low just adds to the danger. So keep safe and always be prepared.

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You can find the “Diabetic Driver” window cling from DAD INNOVATIONS .

You can find some really great Medical Identification Jewelry from Lauren’s Hope.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @rachellynnae

Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube: humaBLOG

With all the news of the death of Caylee Anthony floating around the news I have had many deep thoughts on how hard of a job parenthood is. Now I am not a parent, and I probably won’t be one for a long while, but I know just by observing friends and family members how difficult it is to keep a living human being alive as they grow.

And some things in life seem to make that harder. After reading a Wikipedia article on the Casey Anthony case (Casey Anthony Wiki) I read that in her defense she and her attorney stated that she didn’t murder her daughter but her daughter had drowned in a pool. (So I’m guessing then she went into hysterics and buried her?) I don’t have any side on this debate on whether or not she should be in jail. But it brought up some thoughts for me.

When I was younger for some reason I liked the TV movie specials on CourtTV, and one that I saw once (and have not been able to find since then) was called, “Promised a

Miracle”. It was about a young boy who was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes by an emergency room doctor. Instead of then heeding the advice of a medical doctor the parents of the boy decided that they would take advice of their church. The parents came to some sort of idea from someone in the church that if they pray and only pray (no insulin!?) that their son would become better.

Of course the end of the film resulted in the boy passing away and some large court room drama (as this was on CourtTV). But since then I have had this thought in my mind that their are some people out there that may still believe that if they pray, that alone will cure their child of an incurable disease such as diabetes.

I researched a little bit to see if there were any more cases like the one I saw in the CourtTV film. I found one, a young girl from Wisconsin was diagnosed with T-1 diabetes, and her parents decided that instead of using conventional methods to manage the disease (insulin), that they would pray. (Parents Who Prayed) In this case both of the parents were charged with second-degree reckless homicide. And towards the end of this young girls life she went into a coma caused by Hyperglycemia and Ketoacidosis. Such a sad story and I couldn’t believe that this occurred in 2008.

Anyway without getting too biblical or creating too many misunderstandings I’ll leave it at that. I just feel that advocacy about diabetes needs to be pushed. Possibly if more people knew about the seriousness of complications of diabetes and what not receiving any insulin in the body can do, that stories like these would happen less. I’m sorry to write such a downer of a blog tonight. But I just found it interesting and I wanted to share.  

EDIT: I found a trailer of the movie here (Promised a Miracle)It really was an interesting court case. If anyone ever finds the movie in its entirety I’d love to watch it again.

So its been a while since the beginning of the You can do it project. I have been wanting to create a video for the project for so long but I have been waiting because I want it to be perfect. And I feel like there are so many things that I want to say so thus the blog post on my new bloggity.

So to start off l

et’s have a little humaBLOG history lesson shall we? I was diagnose with Type 1 diabetes in 1999 when I was 8 years old (ps my diagnoses in video form is here The Day I was Diagnosed). My mom was diagnosed when she was eight as well and my little sister was diagnosed a year later in 2000 when she was 3 years old. So I honestly have always had someone to live through this disease with. So I guess I could never say that I was lonely feeling like I was the only one with this disease but it was different. Growing up I didn’t know anyone with diabetes other than my mom, sister, and grandma. I never knew anyone my age with diabetes. Actually I was the only diabetic in my school and I was the first too. So my parents heard about Camp Granada, a camp for children with diabetes in my area. I attended the summer after I was diagnosed and met many of the friends that I have today. As I still go to camp as a camp counselor I do see many diabetics every day of my life and if its not in physical form its on the web with my new friends from the DOC, so feeling alone is never an option.

But sometimes Diabetes is really hard to live with. When I wake up for school and I’m low so I have to eat and wait before I can get ready and then I’m late for class. Or when I’m taking a test, driving my car, or even working at my job and I drop or my blood sugar spikes, both making concentration spotty and difficult. Or even when I was growing up and my “friends” would make fun of my disease just made living with this disease seem unfair and so hard at times. I found that the easiest way to get these feelings to subside to to surround yourself with people who care about you and understand what you have to go through.

In even my darkest days of diabetes I can remember finally talking to a friend, and my parents and getting out of the diabetes slump. And my “favorite” part about this disease is that I have a great opportunity to teach others. Let’s just take camp for an example. I absolutely love being a counselor. I remember when I was a camper and camp was my favorite part of the summer (pss it still is). When I look at the faces or new campers when their parents leave them alone for possibly the first time and they look upset and then by the end of the week they can’t stop grinning, makes diabetes worth it for me. I still get butterflies in my stomach when I think about camp (6 more days!). And I absolutely love swapping stories on the good ole DOC.

It makes me wonder who I would have been if diabetes never existed. How sad I am to think about never meeting the friends I’ve met or never learning the things I’ve learned because of diabetes. So I guess all I am saying is that this Diabetes thing. Its not so bad. Now I don’t mean “there are people worse off”. Because I hate hearing that as much as you do. Just that diabetes as horribly terrifying as it can be it can also create great opportunities. The next time you think you can’t persevere or you feel lonely just know that there are millions of people with the same disease and We Can All Do this together.