humaBLOG

Hello all!

I am writing this blog post to tell you of something that a friend of mine is participating in that I think it super awesome!

My friend Jenny is participating in JDRF’s Ride for the Cure. She will be riding her bicycle across Death Valley in California. (Which just sounds scary and awesome!)

Anyway she needs only a few more sponsors to meet her goal! (Here is where you can help!)

If you click the link below you can sponsor her in her awesomely, amazing journey!

Sponsor Jenny!

You can also follow Jenny along her journey on her blog!

Jenny’s Death Valley Blog

Sponsor and share with friends and on other websites! Let’s get the DOC and humaBLOG readers together and help Jenny on her journey for this awesome cause!!

GOOD LUCK JENNY!!

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I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE THINKING!

What happened to the daily blogs? Well I don’t have an answer but I do have something to hold you over!

No Jumping on the Bed - Tedd Arnold

I animated this storybook for a school project and this is the project where I got the idea for humaBLOG! I have of course gotten better at animation from humaBLOG but I thought some of you may be interested in seeing it!

My Dad, My Sister, and myself all voice acted in it so it’s pretty bad.

It has nothing to do with diabetes but is a big epidemic in the primary schools! ;)

Enjoy! I will be blogging the rest of the week.. Just so you know and stuff.

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You can now “like” humaBLOG on Facebook! Facebook.com/humaBLOG

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @rachellynnae  

Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube: humaBLOG 

Have a story you want to share? Have a question or suggestion? Why not leave a comment below?

Each day this April I will be writing a post for The Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge hosted by WEGO Health. It’s going to be a lot of fun and I’d love to see what you have to say about each of the topics, too. Check out the challenge here: http://info.wegohealth.com/HAWMC2012  Enjoy today’s topic!

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_#HAWMC Day 15

Writing my Style

Really I don’t have a style down. I actually don’t think that I write that well. (“Maybe that is why she never writes in this blog?”)

All I do is start thinking about a topic and start typing. I do no pre-planning, and I most definitely don’t write out any thing on paper. I just write what I am thinking. Can you tell?

However for humaBLOG animations, I plan every piece. I need to plan every word to work with every movement and every drawing. So for that I do write down a script and record voiceovers over and over again until I get them perfect.

Actually I have a video to share with you on the process I go through to record voiceovers for humaBLOG animations. Check it out below!

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You can now “like” humaBLOG on Facebook! Facebook.com/humaBLOG

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @rachellynnae  

Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube: humaBLOG 

Have a story you want to share? Have a question or suggestion? Why not leave a comment below?

Each day this April I will be writing a post for The Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge hosted by WEGO Health. It’s going to be a lot of fun and I’d love to see what you have to say about each of the topics, too. Check out the challenge here: http://info.wegohealth.com/HAWMC2012  Enjoy today’s topic!

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_#HAWMC Day 14

My Dream Day

A few months ago I had a talk with my Pediatric Endocrinologist before I left to go to a “Big Kid” Doctor.  She was talking with my sister and me about what we would do when the cure for diabetes is discovered. 

If you didn’t know, my mother, my sister, and I all have Type 1 diabetes.  Because of this we imagined a grand party with cakes and candy and mountains of sugar to the sky! We would all chant “No More Insulin! No More Insulin!” and drink regular Coke like it was water.

We would all run and dance, jump and laugh. All without worrying about a pump site or a low blood sugar.

This day will be great!

She then proceeded to ask if she was invited.

Of course she is!

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You can now “like” humaBLOG on Facebook! Facebook.com/humaBLOG

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @rachellynnae  

Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube: humaBLOG 

Have a story you want to share? Have a question or suggestion? Why not leave a comment below?

Each day this April I will be writing a post for The Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge hosted by WEGO Health. It’s going to be a lot of fun and I’d love to see what you have to say about each of the topics, too. Check out the challenge here: http://info.wegohealth.com/HAWMC2012  Enjoy today’s topic!

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_#HAWMC Day 13

Top 5 things I couldn’t live without.

This seems sort of obvious. But here we go; here is the list of things I love most.

1.     Insulin- Obvious reasons

2.     Insulin Pump- Okay, I suppose this is cheap. I could live without a pump. I have lived with out a pump. I took injections from the age of 8 to 14. But I really love my pump and I fear that if I were to go back to Multiple Daily Injections that my blood sugars would not be in control as they are now. Lets hope I will always have my pump!

3.     Friends and Family- My support system is very important to me. If I didn’t have these people in my life I wouldn’t know what to do. Being surrounded by these people means the most to me.

4.     Diabetes Camp- I have gone to Camp Granada for every year starting when I was 8 years old. If I didn’t have diabetes camp in my life I would be very sad. I think about camp every single day. Camp has given me life long friends, and lessons. Camp is a really large part of my life. I know that my day will come when I can no longer go to camp but I hope that day will not come for a long, long, time.

5.     DOC/Internet- Now that I have found this community I don’t think I could live without it! There is something magical about Tweeting out asking how many carbs in a cough drop and getting answered back in minutes. I love the DOC!

What is something you can’t live without?

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You can now “like” humaBLOG on Facebook! Facebook.com/humaBLOG

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @rachellynnae  

Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube: humaBLOG 

Have a story you want to share? Have a question or suggestion? Why not leave a comment below?

Each day this April I will be writing a post for The Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge hosted by WEGO Health. It’s going to be a lot of fun and I’d love to see what you have to say about each of the topics, too. Check out the challenge here: http://info.wegohealth.com/HAWMC2012  Enjoy today’s topic!

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_#HAWMC Day 12

Stream of Consciousness Day

Oh boy here we go a whole unedited post. Please don’t judge too harshly!

Lately, of course, I have been thinking of the future. How it will be scary, exciting and inspiring. I wonder what it will be like to be finished with school with a degree under my belt. Where will I work, where will I call home? How will my brain function with out 24/7/365 homework?

How about my family? What will my husband look like? Will my daughter have my eyes? Will we all live off of the shore and enjoy nothing but each other’s company?

Will I love my field? Will I be successful in my career? Will I even want a career after I have a child? Will I even have a child? What will I do in my free time? What is this “free time” people speak so fondly of?

Will I live in a city or in a suburb? Will I drive a car or bike to work? Will I wear high heels that click and clack as I walk or will I wear sneakers?

Will I be blogging? Will humaBLOG be big or still just a side project?

Only time will tell!

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You can now “like” humaBLOG on Facebook! Facebook.com/humaBLOG

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @rachellynnae  

Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube: humaBLOG 

Have a story you want to share? Have a question or suggestion? Why not leave a comment below?

Each day this April I will be writing a post for The Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge hosted by WEGO Health. It’s going to be a lot of fun and I’d love to see what you have to say about each of the topics, too. Check out the challenge here: http://info.wegohealth.com/HAWMC2012  Enjoy today’s topic!

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_#HAWMC Day 10

Dear 16-year-old me

This is me writing a letter to myself when I was age 16. Feel free to read!

Dear 16 year old Rachel,

Calm down about the boy thing. Seriously it’s not worth it.

Please get into the habit of testing before you drive. It’s so hard for me to remember now! If you’re below 80 just eat something before getting on the road!

You are truly doing a good job! Keep it up; no matter what happens remember you will always have your health.

You are about to endure some of the toughest times of your life and diabetes has nothing to do with it so keep it in check because you’re going to need a healthy body and a sound mind. Be strong!

I know high school is your whole world now but believe me there is so much more to come in your life that you’ll forget what high school was like!

Get good grades and take a foreign language class! You’re going to wish you would have later! Work hard and worry about friends and boys later.

Camp makes you so happy and one day you will be a part of the happy in other campers lives.  Don’t give up! It is totally worth it, I promise!

Don’t listen to Inner Rachel. She is erratic, irresponsible, and an all around HAG. We should really fire her.

Lots of Love and Encouragement,

Rachel at 21 years

What would you tell your younger self?

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You can now “like” humaBLOG on Facebook! Facebook.com/humaBLOG

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @rachellynnae  

Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube: humaBLOG 

Have a story you want to share? Have a question or suggestion? Why not leave a comment below?

Each day this April I will be writing a post for The Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge hosted by WEGO Health. It’s going to be a lot of fun and I’d love to see what you have to say about each of the topics, too. Check out the challenge here: http://info.wegohealth.com/HAWMC2012  Enjoy today’s topic!

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_#HAWMC Day 06

Health Haiku

I haven’t written a haiku in about 6 years so hang in there with me! This haiku is focused on diabetes, of course. Enjoy and don’t make fun of me too bad.

Diabetes should

Not control me ever

I will repeat this

Wow Diabetes has 4 syllables. Dang.

Okay okay, now you should send me your Diabetes Haiku, because I am seriously horrible at it. 

Haikus consist of 5 syllable followed by 7 syllables followed by 5 syllables.

Have fun!

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You can now “like” humaBLOG on Facebook! Facebook.com/humaBLOG

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @rachellynnae  

Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube: humaBLOG 

Have a story you want to share? Have a question or suggestion? Why not leave a comment below?

Each day this April I will be writing a post for The Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge hosted by WEGO Health. It’s going to be a lot of fun and I’d love to see what you have to say about each of the topics, too. Check out the challenge here: http://info.wegohealth.com/HAWMC2012  Enjoy today’s topic!

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_#HAWMC Day 05

Inspired by this Photo

For this post I am going to choose a photo from flickr.com/explore. I will write a post below inspired by the image I found.

Here is the image:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vncenzisilvia/7003307899/

I know nothing about this artist because he speaks Spanish and I barely speak English. Enjoy the post!

This photo reminds me of the STOP DIABTES logo for the American Diabetes Association. All we need to add is a blood drop on a finger and we are set for the DOC!

This photo really speaks volumes to me. I feel like it is telling me a story, one that I know very well.

When I have low blood sugars, I feel trapped in my own body. I feel like I can’t do anything for myself and all I want to do is scream.

I eat and eat and it I check again and the blood sugar has dropped! I am doing everything I am supposed to do and I am still trapped.

Sometimes I get this panicked feeling briefly that I am done, it’s the end and I am moving to another world.

Vision is getting spotty and my legs don’t work properly. All I want to do is close my eyes but I know I can’t.

I shakily stuff more food in my mouth and add to the laundry list of carbohydrates I have consumed in this short 30 minute span.

When finally I can see again and my blood sugar is above 80 mg/dl again! Then I think back a few minutes and I think of how ridiculous I felt. Why would I give up that easy?

During the moments of low blood sugar my brain is put in over drive and I feel like I am dying. 

Because of this I sometimes feel like I am prisoner in my own body and diabetes is my warden.

I plan to break free!

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You can now “like” humaBLOG on Facebook! Facebook.com/humaBLOG

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @rachellynnae  

Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube: humaBLOG 

Have a story you want to share? Have a question or suggestion? Why not leave a comment below?

Each day this April I will be writing a post for The Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge hosted by WEGO Health. It’s going to be a lot of fun and I’d love to see what you have to say about each of the topics, too. Check out the challenge here: http://info.wegohealth.com/HAWMC2012  Enjoy today’s topic!

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_#HAWMC Day 04

I write about my Diabetes because…

I’ve never been the type of girl to keep a consistent journal. Yeah sure I had the password diary and I wrote from time to time in my Unicorn diary, but usually I would lose it or stop writing completely, or it would become a sketchbook.

But for some reason I started a blog. I actually started this blog so that my videos had a place to live and so people on the DOC could find me. But now I feel this blog is helpful for others and me because I can share stories and experiences.

I think that one-day when I am old and forgetful I can look back on these blogs, (on a super high tech computer that will probably be inserted in my brain) and remember my life as a 20 something college student with type 1 diabetes. 

What about my children? Wouldn’t it be great that if my future son or daughter could look back and see my videos and posts from when I was there age? I can only imagine how amazing that would be, and it could even bring us closer.

I write about diabetes to educate, inform, inspire, and share with other people who are interested to come and see. I write about diabetes for friends, family, and strangers. But mostly I write about diabetes for me.

Writing about my disease helps me cope. It helps me learn, and it helps me to remember what I have learned.

 I am so glad I started.

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You can now “like” humaBLOG on Facebook! Facebook.com/humaBLOG

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @rachellynnae  

Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube: humaBLOG 

Have a story you want to share? Have a question or suggestion? Why not leave a comment below?

Each day this April I will be writing a post for The Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge hosted by WEGO Health. It’s going to be a lot of fun and I’d love to see what you have to say about each of the topics, too. Check out the challenege here: http://info.wegohealth.com/HAWMC2012  Enjoy today’s topic!

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_#HAWMC Day 03

Superpower Day

I have actually toyed with this concept for a long while. What would you choose if you could have one super power?

Would it be to fly, to have super strength, or maybe it would be to have an iron pancreas? For me my super power would be to influence people. If I had the power to influence people I could change the world.

I could change the President’s mind about health care laws and make it so that every person with a medical need would never go with out the drug that keeps them alive.

I could open minds to education about diabetes, so we would all never have to explain what an insulin pump, meter, or bolus is again.

I could help people by giving them the gift of optimism. I would bring struggling people out of depression so that they would take their health care seriously. Because of this they would live a long and healthy life.

I know these tasks are not a cure, but I really feel that I could change the world.

What would you do if you had a super power?

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You can now “like” humaBLOG on Facebook! Facebook.com/humaBLOG

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @rachellynnae  

Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube: humaBLOG 

Have a story you want to share? Have a question or suggestion? Why not leave a comment below?

Each day this April I will be writing a post for The Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge hosted by WEGO Health. It’s going to be a lot of fun and I’d love to see what you have to say about each of the topics, too. Check out the challenege here: http://info.wegohealth.com/HAWMC2012  Enjoy today’s topic!

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_#HAWMC Day 02

Quotation Inspiration

Keeping with what I ended with yesterday, inspiration. What inspires you? Think about it for just a sec, then read what I wrote below. (Please)

Take chances, make mistakes. That’s how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave.
Mary Tyler Moore

Yeah Yeah I know it. I’ve totally posted this quote before. Stick with me here I love me some Mary Tyler Moore. I mean how could you not? She’s got the ‘betes, she advocates for the JDRF, and she worked with Dick Van Dyke! I means she has some mad hat throwing skills too!

But in all seriousness, I love this quote is so many different ways. Let me break it down for you.

“Take Chances” Oh yes! How are you ever going to know your passion if you never take chances? Seriously? If we all lived in out bubble where we were fed, clothed and kept warm, we would never get to experience the world. Taking chances can be scary, but chances are it will mold you into a better person.

“Make mistakes. That’s how you grow.” Yes Mary! Mistakes again mold who we are. When we were all young we were told one hundred, no one thousand times, “Do not touch that. It is hot!” But we never really understood until we touched it and learned that it was hot and mom and dad weren’t lying. Every mistake we make, whether it be big or small makes us who we are.

“Pain nourishes your courage”  - This part really is important. Think back to a time when someone said, “you can’t”. Maybe it was long ago, or maybe it was yesterday. No matter when it was it may have made you want to stop pursuing, to give up. But if what others said you couldn’t do is what you are destined to do, who are they to say you can’t? Keep going and show them you can! Push through because the pain of giving up hurts more.

“You have to fail in order to practice being brave.” – I’m going to answer this part of the quote by using another quote. “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger”. Of course I don’t mean be reckless with your life. What I do mean is that failing isn’t the worst thing that could happen. In fact it is the best thing that can happen. Because when you fail you have an opportunity to succeed!

What inspires you?

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You can now “like” humaBLOG on Facebook! Facebook.com/humaBLOG

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @rachellynnae  

Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube: humaBLOG 

Have a story you want to share? Have a question or suggestion? Why not leave a comment below?

Each day this April I will be writing a post for The Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge hosted by WEGO Health. It’s going to be a lot of fun and I’d love to see what you have to say about each of the topics, too. Check out the challenege here: http://info.wegohealth.com/HAWMC2012  Enjoy today’s topic!

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_#HAWMC Day 01

The Health Time Capsule

For the first day of Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge I will be creating a “virtual” time capsule. Usually time capsule’s hold, photos, memories, and other items to remind us of what we lived through in the past.

This time capsule however is composed of items and memories of my health. To start off I should say that this “virtual”, make-believe time capsule is to be opened in 100 years in the year 2112. So suffice to say I will probably not be around. (Though if I were, that would be impressive!)

Alright all joking aside I think that it would be completely awesome to open up a time capsule from 100 years ago. It would be even more awesome if it was medical and health based.  I am super interested in the history of medicine and I think it is so cool to compare where we were then to where we are now! (Check out Breakthrough. Seriously a good diabetic history read!)

So without further adieu, I now present you the list of items that would be included in my 2012 Diabetes time capsule. 

2012 HumaBLOG Diabetes time capsule:

1.     My old trusty Deltec Cozmo Insulin Pump. – I think it would be so cool for the person who opened my time capsule to see our somewhat outdated diabetes technology. If I had a backpack pancreas in my hands I would be mesmerized. But maybe that is just me.

2.     Other insulin supplies – Syringes  (needled end clip of course), meter, test strip, lancing device, ketone strips, ect. For the same reason above I think it would be cool in a museum

3.     A copy of every You Can Do it Blog and Video. – Diabetics of the future may need encouragement too! Or if there is a cure, people need to know the hardships we face.

4.     A copy of every humaBLOG animation- Hey a girl’s gotta promote!

5.     Unicorns and cupcakes of course

I would also include a letter to the recipient. Because this is a “virtual” time capsule, the letter reads as follows.

Dear Future Human/Alien Overlord race/giant dancing cupcake eating unicorn monster,

My name is Rachel. I have Type 1 Diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is a disease that affects many many many people around the world here in the year 2012. I am telling you this in the hopes that by the time you receive this capsule Diabetes will have been cured.

Every day my family and friends hope and pray for a cure in our lifetimes. For me I am not sure I will be around to see one. However I don’t mind. Diabetes has actually given me things I would never ever want to miss out on. So for now I hope that you don’t know what this disease is because it was cured so long ago that people have forgotten.

If this is the case let me explain what Type 1 diabetes entails. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. That means that my immune system decided to go all rouge and attack my pancreas. The pancreas is an organ that produces a hormone that regulates how much sugar is in my blood stream. Because my pancreas was attacked my immune system I no longer can create my own insulin. As a result I need to take synthetic insulin every day, every hour in order to live. So if you are an alien overlord, I was probably the first to go when the famine occurred. Don’t worry I’m not mad.

Anyway, because I inject my own insulin and I am merely a human and I am not perfect, my life is full of numbers and math problems. And sometimes it just doesn’t work.
            Within this capsule you will find various diabetic supplies that I use to measure blood sugar and inject synthetic insulin. I have also included some inspirational words from some of my friends. In case you need a little inspiration. Lets face it we all do.

Love ya like a sis/bro/overlord/unicorn monster,

Rachel, age 21 in 2012, age 121 in 2112

So what would you put in your health time capsule?

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You can now “like” humaBLOG on Facebook! Facebook.com/humaBLOG

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @rachellynnae  

Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube: humaBLOG 

Have a story you want to share? Have a question or suggestion? Why not leave a comment below?