#diabetesdad

[thediabeticsurvivor]

Thankful and thinking of my T1Dad and Pancreas CoPilot who has supported me from day one of my diagnosis 💪💙Wishing you all good blood sugars and happy weekend 😎   #t1ddad #diabetesdad #type1dad#typeonedad #diabeticdad #diabuddies #beyondtype1#diabetescommunity #diabetesawareness#allmydiabetesstuff #diabetesbag#diabeticlifestyle #t1daccessories #jdrf https://www.instagram.com/p/BysBd8yB76N/?igshid=13tsp88v40bvc

[newsfind]

From "A" DiabetesDad - Diabetes DadDiabetes Dad

From “A” DiabetesDad – Diabetes DadDiabetes Dad

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As you read in the title, I am a DiabetesDad.  Never said I was ‘the’ diabetesdad, we are many.  Today is Father’s Day.  Happy Father’s Day to all of you who are fortunate enough to have someone in your life who calls you dad.  In our children’s lives, we are ‘the’ dad.  Unless you are in the small number of families with two dads, being a dad is a unique and definitive.  You, are dad.

T…

[diabetesthealth-blog]

Not the Pain, but the Void………Left Behind.

Not the Pain, but the Void………Left Behind.

Today, I saw the date in the lower corner of my computer.  August 22, 2017.  I started to reach for the phone because I knew, inherently, that the date was significant. I reacted because I had not yet called my dad to wish him a happy birthday.  “Oh, I gotta call……..” But you see, I didn’t have to call, because dad is gone.  Dad passed away on March 16th 2009.  But at some point every August 22nd…

[mia-fruitbat-blog]

Hey there, just checking up on you and how you are feeling. I know you still have a week until your endo appt, so probably haven't solved the mystery of the bouncy blood sugar perfectly, but was more checking in on how you are feeling emotionally about stuff #diabetesdad

My weird blood sugars have not been completely solved but I am definitely doing better and I think some of the crazy numbers were emotional. I think it took me a year to actually process the extent of diabetes and come to terms with the fact that it is a life long thing that I will have forever. When I was first diagnosed a year ago I was kinda thrown full force into the whole thing and it was so crazy that I didn’t have time to actually process it. I feel like I have come to terms with it now which is good and I’ve also started to realize how lucky I am to be able to live pretty much a normal life and have access to insulin, and I think diabetes has encouraged me to appreciate my body and life more and take time for myself if I need it.

Wow this awesome thank you so much for checking on me! 💙😊 Type 1 friends if you read this, I think this is a great thing to do for your mutuals because it honestly does make a difference to have people who understand how tough this illness is check in on you.

[type2diabetestreatments-blog]

Lilly Diabetes Hosts Insulin Pricing and Access Workshop

New Post has been published on http://type2diabetestreatment.net/diabetes-mellitus/lilly-diabetes-hosts-insulin-pricing-and-access-workshop/

Lilly Diabetes Hosts Insulin Pricing and Access Workshop

In the front lobby of Lilly’s corporate headquarters in Indianapolis stands a 12-foot tall statue of a mother holding her child in her arms, sick and starving due to lack of insulin.

It’s an artistic rendering of a real-life mother who took her son to insulin's birthplace in Toronto once upon a time, before the medication's discovery in 1921, when a diabetes diagnosis was a death sentence. As the Lilly folks describe it today, the statute is a visible reminder of what they are all about – changing the field of science and getting people the medication they need to stay healthy, even stay alive.

Unfortunately, the reality in 2017 is an incredible crisis in insulin affordability and access for many with diabetes, to the extent that people in our D-Community are losing everything because of lack of insulin, and facing life-and-death situations in some cases.

All of this was the big, sobering, anger-inducing backdrop of a recent Lilly-hosted “insulin access workshop” on April 20, where the Pharma giant brought in a dozen diabetes advocates to discuss action plans to start addressing this growing crisis.

This gathering came just before Lilly’s first quarter earnings call on April 24, when the company reported that just for its 20-year-old Humalog insulin alone, sales revenue in the U.S. went up 24% in the first months of this year, which generated all kinds of “positive momentum” on the company's revenue. Just seeing those figures made many clinch our fists in rage, and it's tough to stomach -- particularly as this issue is hitting some so hard, as shown in a NBC Nightly News segment aired earlier this week and the sad story of Shane Patrick Boyle's death recently.

No one is happy with the current state of affairs, even those in the top brass at Lilly Diabetes. It was clear that the people present at this meeting care, deeply. Just like many of us, they have personal D-connections -- one on the marketing team who just marked her 20th dia-versary with T1D, another on the advocacy and payer side with a husband with type 1, and several others who shared stories recognizing need and hardship in the D-community.

“It is a crime, I agree with you on this, and we are not OK with the status quo,” said Lilly’s Jordyn Wells, who works on the payer and corporate marketing team. “There are going to be a number of solutions that exist in this space – some may come from Pharma, or from others in the industry, some will be organizations, and from the Diabetes Community. Only by partnering are we going to get to the other side.”

There were roughly two dozen people in the room – 12 patients from the Diabetes Online Community, and the rest representing Lilly Diabetes (@LillyDiabetes). The DOC advocates present, including myself, were:

Cherise Shockley (@DiabetesSocMed)

Meri Schuhmacher-Jackson (@Our3DLife)

Rick Phillips (@lawrPhil)

Kelly Kunik (@diabetesalish)

Tom Karlya (@diabetesdad)

Scott Johnson (@scottkjohnson)

Mike Hoskins (@DiabetesMine)

Ally Ferlito (@Verylightnosuga)

Mila Ferrer (@dulce_guerrero)

Bennet Dunlap (@Badshoe)

Amelia Dmowska (@DiatribeNews)

Christel Marchand Aprigliano (@DPAC)

Attending on behalf of the 'Mine, my role was simple: Observe and report, to help inform those who couldn’t be there in person, and to assure that everything I might contribute to the conversation came from my personal POV as a longtime type 1. The group was mainly using Twitter hashtags #InsulinPrices and #InsulinAccess.

(Disclosure: I declined Lilly’s offer to fly me from Detroit to Indy, instead choosing to drive my own car and pay for my own gas, meals and parking. Lilly did pay for two nights at the Le Meridien Hotel in downtown Indy, as well as some hors d’oevres, snacks, and beverages. As always, Lilly was clear there was no pressure or expectation for us to write anything in their interest; everything reported here is my own observation and thought based on my personal experience.)

In a nutshell, what I saw gave me hope that we have the ability to influence this insulin access and drug pricing crisis instead of waiting on Congress or other leaders to weigh in. The blame game can take us round and round, but while that’s happening the advocacy plans being put into motion are potential game-changers, IMHO – even if they aren’t perfect or end-all-be-all fixes on their own.

It was a full daylong agenda. Here’s a recap of my takeaways from the Lilly workshop, for whatever it’s worth:

Building Momentum and Connecting Dots

To be clear, this Lilly workshop was a follow-up to efforts that have been underway over the past year, in particular a larger insulin pricing round-table in November 2016 coordinated by the National Diabetes Volunteer Leadership Council (NDVLC). Read our recap of that round-table here.

Certainly, not every player involved in this issue could or would be present at these meetings, including the much-decried Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) who have so much influence but remain aloof. And by no means did anyone present believe that this single meeting would solve the world’s problems or fix this issue once and for all. There are no silver bullets here, Folks.

Over the past several months, both Lilly and NDVLC have been among those in the D-advocacy community talking with payers and working to better understand the market dynamics of how the pricing scheme all fits together. Specifically, what can be done from an economic and business model standpoint to influence tangible change?

George Huntley, a longtime type 1 himself who serves as treasurer of the non-profit NDVLC, spoke at the Lilly workshop about what the group has learned so far. As many of these discussions go, the theme was “it’s complicated” -- as demonstrated by the maze of players who all have a hand in setting drug prices.

“This hasn’t happened overnight, it’s been a slow evolution of plan design over the course of the past 15 years,” he said. “Now, it’s reached a tipping point where it’s outrageous – no, we are passed that tipping point. But now, it’s incumbent upon us to express that outrage. Yelling about it is a great start, but there is a difference between being an educated consumer and just a consumer on fire.”

So, what can we do?

'Need to Do Better'

On Lilly's behalf, Jordyn Wells explained that most of what Lilly has been able to introduce into the marketplace recently are basically "band-aids" that clearly are “not ideal,” but are a starting point. Those include better promoting the Patient Assistance Programs (PAPs) that can help certain eligible people in need, to the BlinkHealth partnership offering limited discounts of up to 40% at CVS Health pharmacies to those eligible uninsured or under-insured PWDs.

Very true, and while some in the room were vocal about how inadequate these programs are for many in the D-Community, there was a recognition that they're just pieces of a much larger puzzle. Wells said these programs are short-term solutions that fit into larger systematic efforts to help those in need.

Taking it to Employers

There were a lot of stats and slides presented at this workshop, but the bottom line was: insurance isn’t helping patients the way that it should. One slide showed that in 2016, 57% of people with diabetes who use insulin were exposed to unexpected, high or full costs at the pharmacy at some point during the year. Another set of market research stats showed 51% of people in the U.S. are on commercial, employer-provided plans (including those that are self-funded by employers).

Then consider the telling figure that PBMs are responsible for 75%-80% of insured lives in this country – as PBMs create many of the employer health plans offered to employees each year. As non-medical switching becomes more common (go on Lantus instead of Levemir, because they’re "essentially the same"), this need to change the conversation at the PBM level is ever more important.

And who has the most sway over PBMs? Yep, employers do – because they are the clients who have a choice in which PBM they ultimately hire for the job. If employees aren’t happy and communicate that, and employers listen and take that message to the PBMs, the hope is that we can start effectuating change.

Lilly’s Ideas

Here are the ideas Lilly presented for employer-focused reform:

Manufacturers must take more responsibility in pushing for point-of-sale benefits from rebates. More work needs to be done to pass along these insider "rebates" to consumers/patients.

First dollar obligations before deductibles. Employers can contribute to health savings or reimbursement accounts on Jan. 1, rather than gradually paying into those accounts throughout the year. This could help employees pay for insulin from the first day of the year. Again, not addressing the true pricing problem, but it’s something that could help.

Exempt insulin from deductibles: This is something Lilly’s already been doing as a large employer, but it wants to encourage more employers to adopt: insulin could/should be categorized as one of the essential, life-or-death meds that isn’t subject to a high-deductible, but rather just a flat co-pay. Wells said the high-deductible plan system was setup to drive people to cheaper generics, and to go to primary care doctors instead of higher-cost ERs. “But with insulin, it doesn’t make sense. Insulin should be treated differently.”

“(This is) something we can do tomorrow -- go to employers to start playing the puppet-strings and advocating PBMs for this change," Wells said.

NDVLC Campaign

The NDVLC also presented its related campaign that will be rolling out over the course of the next month or so.

Based on the NDVLC research, the cost for an employer to tweak benefit plan designs via PBMs equates to an average 22 cents per person per plan.

“If they were smart politically, they’d do this immediately,” Huntley said. "This would help quiet the firestorm over PBMs.”

Asked about unintended downstream consequences, he said there are hardly any relating to financial impacts on PBMs. They make $12 Billion (!) a year, whereas a PWD who pays $1,400 a month for insulin is facing serious, life-changing health consequences.

“Our system has evolved to a point where now, employers are hurting their people,” Huntley said. “They are the ones in the free market who can do this, and they don’t know they can do this. Employers are assuming they are helping their people and that the system’s built correctly, but it’s not. So as consumers and employees, we must raise our voices to make them stand up to PBMs about benefit plan design. Because the human cost is not acceptable.”

DPAC’s Advocacy Tools

Affordable Insulin Project: Another exciting development was hearing DPAC founder Christel Aprigliano describe one of the many projects they've been working on since November – creating an online portal for our D-Community to get more involved in advocacy on this, appropriately named the Affordable Insulin Project. This is being rolled out in the next weeks, we're told, and is aimed at providing resources/tools/awareness on how the system all works, ways PWDs can easily approach and take this message to their employers, and what other policy advocacy tools might exist for insurance reform on the state and Congressional levels.

Advocacy App: While it wasn’t specifically connected to this workshop, just days before the Lilly forum DPAC launched a new mobile app designed to help people reach out via social media, phone or snail mail to their Congressional leaders in DC.

All of these tools feed into the fight for better healthcare reform and affordable insulin on a national level, legislative calls for pricing transparency and lower drug prices, suing Big Insulin and PBMs in court to put more pressure on them for disclosure and transparency, and creating a needed media blitz to keep this whole issue on the general public’s radar.

Health Literacy, Consumerism and Stigma

Of course, there's the reality that employer-focused advocacy isn’t foolproof, as this recent Bloomberg story shows. There are legitimate questions about stigma and workplace discrimination, and whether PWDs are comfortable with even sharing with coworkers or HR folk that they have diabetes, let alone advocating for company-wide insurance changes for their own benefit. And there's the issue of simply not being informed enough about the insurance coverage system, benefits design and legal rights.

On these challenges, the diaTribe Foundation presented a new six-part series that it’s about to launch at the end of May and run through year’s end to help tackle stigma and health literacy issues. The topics they have in mind at this point are:

One idea born from the brainstorm discussion was the possibility of Lilly helping to pay for materials that could be printed and displayed in free clinics/ churches/ community centers, or even kiosks that could be set up to view and print materials for people who might not have Internet access at home.

Everyone in the D-Community is invited to be a part of what diaTribe is developing here and submit their ideas. Those interested can contact: amelia.dmowska@diatribe.org.

Overall, the day’s agenda was packaged as a “top-down, bottom-up approach” that encouraged tactics we can start implementing immediately -- even with the understanding that the affordability and access crisis is huge, so we have to be patient with incremental change.

Balancing the Blame and PR

Clearly, Lilly is funding some of this – from a grant to DPAC to help develop the mobile community advocacy app to supporting the diaTribe series described above.

Sure, they do share some of the blame in creating the problem, but it's become increasingly clear to us over the past two years just how complex the system is, and that pointing the finger solely at the Big Insulin makers is neither accurate nor productive.

No one is wearing white gloves, and Big Insulin certainly should not be portrayed as innocent victims.

Yet the truth is that Lilly and other companies do good in this world, alongside some bad. They trains nurses in schools to manage diabetes and treat dangerous hypos; they donate lots of insulin globally to developing counties; and they help send kids to D-camps, college, and conferences while also raising national awareness about diabetes through marketing, PR and celebrity spokes-folks campaigns. Not to mention, they support non-profits and various D-advocacy resources and even startups such as Beta Bionics creating the iLET closed loop system.

For all of those activities, we say Thank You. And it behooves us as patients to work alongside them to try to find positive solutions. They should be providing funds for all this! They make plenty of profit here, so let's let them foot the bill for much of the work that needs to be done.

It’s easy to be mad. And we all are.

But it’s not always easy to think critically and have a rational, intelligent conversation about upsetting topics, and then find some constructive action to take. I'm personally proud of our Diabetes Community for keeping our wits about us and pushing ahead, even in the most heart-breaking moments, like when we lose some of our kin because they don't have access to affordable insulin.

We must all work together to change this, to reach a day when none of us are forced to carry the weight of tragedy due to the inaccessibility of life-sustaining insulin.

Disclaimer: Content created by the Diabetes Mine team. For more details click here.

Disclaimer

This content is created for Diabetes Mine, a consumer health blog focused on the diabetes community. The content is not medically reviewed and doesn't adhere to Healthline's editorial guidelines. For more information about Healthline's partnership with Diabetes Mine, please click here.

Type 2 Diabetes Treatment Type 2 Diabetes Diet Diabetes Destroyer Reviews Original Article

[thediabeticsurvivor]

Happy Father's day!  💪💙😊 To all father's of children with diabetes and the ones living with diabetes too. #t1ddad #diabetesdad #type1dad#typeonedad #diabeticdad #diabuddies #beyondtype1#diabetescommunity #diabetesawareness#allmydiabetesstuff #diabetesbag#diabeticlifestyle #t1daccessories #jdrf https://www.instagram.com/p/ByxEM6KBu5n/?igshid=1sha8kwhcmb95

[thediabeticsurvivor]

Father´s Day is Coming! Looking for a gift? 💪💙😊 Men's Clothes 10% OFF. Ohhh, also T1 Dad tumblers and mugs ☕ - till 30 June.   😊 Just use code  FATHERSOFF10 at checkout at WWW.thediabeticsurvivor.COM #t1ddad #diabetesdad #type1dad#typeonedad #diabeticdad#fathersday https://www.instagram.com/p/BykX2XXBEGr/?igshid=1xo5ugv5va99l

[thediabeticsurvivor]

At the start, understanding my glucose numbers was HARD! 📈My Dad always helped me with diabetes tech, even reminding me to charge my devices! This design´s for all those Type 1 Dads out there, with their superpowers and buckets of patience! 🏆⁠ ⁠ 10% OFF Diabetes Type 1 DAD designs + ALL Men´s T-shirts at WWW.thediabeticsurvivor.COM 🤗 (min order 10USD - Promo ends at the end of this month).⁠ ⁠ #t1ddad #diabetesdad #type1dad #typeonedad #diabeticdad #diabuddies #beyondtype1 #diabetescommunity #diabetesawareness #allmydiabetesstuff #diabetesbag#diabeticlifestyle #t1daccessories #jdrf #diabetesbag #allmydiabetesstuff #typeonegang #deadpancreasgang #diabuddies #diabetescommunity #diabetesawareness #typeone #showmeyourpump #typ1apparel #vårdiabetes #diabetesvardag# diabètetype1 #diabetesbag #deadpancreas #diabeticlifestyle #t1daccessories — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/2zJnWDU

[thediabeticsurvivor]

Valentine Day’s is coming… Happy to announce this responsibly made T-Shirt Combo #type1family  💙 Both t-shirts come from BELLA + CANVAS an eco-friendly clothing company 🌱 As always, you can find them at WWW.thediabeticsurvivor.COM 😊 Happy weekend to all! . #diabeticfamily #t1dfamily #type1community #beyondtype1 #jdrf #amdiabetesassn #typeonediabetes #diabetesqueen #diabadass #diabetes #ilovesomeonewithdiabetes #t1dmom #diabetestype1mom #type1diabetesmom #type1mommy #type1moms #diabetesmom #type1mom  #t1ddad #diabetesdad #type1dad#typeonedad #diabeticdad https://www.instagram.com/p/B7bDcpmBYHm/?igshid=1awd07lo8ksy4

[diabetesthealth-blog]

Diabetes Dad in the Trenches: What If Insulin Was Not Available at ALL??? To Some it’s a Harsh Reality.

Diabetes Dad in the Trenches: What If Insulin Was Not Available at ALL??? To Some it’s a Harsh Reality.

In today’s climate where any opinion seems to be a wrong opinion……….to someone; would you like to do something to feel just a little better inside?  I think we all could say, “I wish I had a little more.”  “Life would just be a tad easier if…….”  I think we all have said that at some time or another and, perhaps, some even say it today.  What I DO KNOW without a doubt is that there are children…

[diabetesthealth-blog]

Diabetes Dad: A Controversy Over a Defiant Little Girl……..Why? The Diabetes Community Surely Understands. by diabetesdad

Diabetes Dad: A Controversy Over a Defiant Little Girl……..Why? The Diabetes Community Surely Understands. by diabetesdad

I was in lower Manhattan this week for a DRI Event (which was wonderful) and across from the front entrance were two famous artworks that have become the fodder for many who like to create, said, fodder.  “Charging Bull” has enjoyed the spot for some time since 1987 when Arthur DiModica dropped (literally) it off in the dark of night as a gift, but for the past few months, the spot is now…

[type2diabetestreatments-blog]

Celebrating Dad Bloggers - Happy Father's Day!

New Post has been published on http://type2diabetestreatment.net/diabetes-mellitus/celebrating-dad-bloggers-happy-fathers-day/

Celebrating Dad Bloggers - Happy Father's Day!

Let's be real: when it comes to taking care of kids with diabetes, it can seem like a mom's world. We know that dads love their kids just as much, but sometimes it can seem like moms are the only ones going to doctor's appointments, picking up prescriptions, and negotiating 504 plans. Women also tend to be more comfortable talking about their emotions, so it's no surprise that we have a huge community of D-mom bloggers.

But there are plenty of dads involved in our D-community too! And with Father's Day coming this Sunday, we wanted to spotlight some of these fabulous fathers who are sharing their stories and offering unique perspectives on raising a child with diabetes — and why they think it's important for dads to get in the blogging (or tweeting) game! Please enjoy our "mini-interviews" with highlighted D-dads today:

Red Maxwell, North Carolina

Dad to Miller, 17, and Cassie, 15 (diagnosed at age 18 months)

Blogs at Daddybetes, tweets at @rpmax

DM) Why do you think it's important for fathers to be involved in the diabetes online community?

RM) Moms and daughters and women with diabetes are much better at communicating than dads. I think it's just their nature to be better socially than men. If more dads like me joined the conversation, I think that it would not only help other dads who take care of children with diabetes, it would also let moms know what it's like from our perspective.

What do you personally get out of blogging / tweeting? How has it made an impact in your life?

Blogging and tweeting have helped me share diabetes information that I've stumbled upon or painstakingly researched. Once I learn something, it's nice to be able to help someone else who may be wondering the same thing. I remember feeling so lost and hopeless after Cassie was first diagnosed, and I wished there were better online resources back then.

What does your child with diabetes think of your blogging? Do they think it's cool or do they get embarrassed? Do you have any restrictions for what you blog about?

If I'm posting something that may be sensitive, I'll ask her first before publishing it. One time I wanted to put up a thank you note to her mom that she had written, and she hesitated. I waited a week after she had enough time to think about it, and she gave me her consent. It's not only important to respect your child's right to privacy, you have to respect their wishes too.

Bennet Dunlap, Pennsylvania

Dad to four teens, two with diabetes (diagnosed at age 10 and 7, respectively)

Blogs at YDMV, tweets at @BadShoe

Why did you start blogging about diabetes?

I was involved with a number of diabetes-related forums, ADA, CWD and some others. After our first CWD convention my daughter told me that I should write a blog because she felt I had a different perspective on diabetes — I'm still not sure if it's a good thing to have your kid say you have a 'different perspective.'

Do you think it makes you a better caretaker of your children? If so, how?

Oh hell yes! I think that we are at a point where being a better caretaker is very heavily involved with trusting and supporting the kids steps toward independence. I know that much of my thinking on the importance of that is a direct result of CWD's Friends for Life and some of my fellow bloggers.

What advice do you have for a dad who might be hesitant to start blogging or tweeting?

Blogging and tweeting are not anywhere as significant as being there through diabetes. Joe Solowiejczyk, CDE and guru, often talks about the how easy it is for a CDE to pull a family together for training as an indicator of future success dealing with diabetes. In the most basic terms, does dad show up? So I am less concerned that dads blog or tweet than that they bring the A-game to diabetes. Be involved, go to Friends for Life, know what is up, be dad, embarrass the kids with ugly golf shorts. Social media doesn't matter, as long as dad is not hesitant to deal with diabetes.

That said, I welcome all the crazy dads online. I have friends around the world I have not met. There is the one dude in Texas I would really like to have a few beers with. I welcome more into the ranks!

Steve Gilbert, North Carolina

Dad to John, 20, Krista, 14, and Lia, 9 (diagnosed at age 7)

Blogs at Without Envy

Why did you start blogging about diabetes?

At the time of Lia's diagnosis, I was putting what I thought were the finishing touches on a dramatic novel I was writing. The news sent me into an emotional tailspin that made fiction feel second-rate to the tragedy that was happening here in the real world. So I started writing about diabetes and how it was affecting our family.

What do you get out of blogging / tweeting? How has it made an impact in your life?

Writing is a passion of mine. Before I quit the corporate world to pursue writing full-time (which, by the way, I still am pursuing, sad to say!), I would wake at four in the morning to write. With Lia now having diabetes, I was waking for other, more substantive reasons. And rather than lie in the bed and give those thoughts free, chaotic reign, I corralled them by night and day into what was for me something meaningful and truthful. I felt publishing those efforts on a blog would first and foremost keep me honest about my emotions and just maybe it would put me in touch — which it has — with others who felt the same way.

Do you think it makes you a better caretaker of your children? If so, how?

I don't believe I — or anyone else — needs to blog or write about diabetes to be a good caretaker. In my opinion, health has little to do with tapping into your creativity, unless of course, you are working with science toward treatment or finding a cure. What it does do is give me the means to express and understand how I feel about diabetes, and in particular, how I feel about my daughter and my family in relation to diabetes. Thinking about Lia and diabetes and our family in that raw, truthful way allows me to write honestly, and helps me to understand and appreciate what this disease means to them from their perspective, not just mine.

Tom Karlya, New York

Dad to TJ, 24, Kaitlyn, 21 (diagnosed at age 2), and Robert, 15 (diagnosed at age 13)

Blogs at DiabetesDad, tweets at @Diabetesdad

Why did you start blogging about diabetes?

Two things I remember vividly: First, I felt our experiences, even though more personal than strictly coming from a medical professional, could be just as valuable to another family going through what we went through. The second thing I remember was that I felt an obligation to be part of the process of the same community that was a help to us during the early years and that became the Online Community. We have come so far since that time but it is still people helping people.

What do you get out of blogging / tweeting? How has it made an impact in your life?

The satisfaction that I am making a difference. I feel, personally, that I belong to a community — a community dedicated to helping others. I need to look at myself in the mirror and say I am doing everything I can to both find a cure for my kids and also that I am learning everything I can to help them. In as much as I write online, it is the feedback I receive that empowers me to realize that together we can change the devastation of diabetes into a controllable disease that one day will be eradicated.

Do you think it makes you a better caretaker of your children? If so, how?

Absolutely, the knowledge from the online community is so incredibly useful. It is a live encyclopedia of diabetes information. In addition, if there are any questions, there is always someone online who I can ask, "Hey what do you know about...?" and almost instantaneously a response is given.

Scott Benner, New Jersey

Dad to Cole, 11, and Arden, 7 (diagnosed at age 2)

Blogs at Arden's Day, tweets at @ArdensDay

What do you get out of blogging / tweeting? How has it made an impact in your life?

In the beginning, I was trying to spread awareness. Along the way I realized that my experiences were becoming a sort of roadmap for newly diagnosed families and a comfort to others. It's a relief to know that the issues you experience aren't unique or an indication that you are failing as a parent.

Why do you think it's important for fathers to be involved in the diabetes online community?

There is a real opportunity to gain a male perspective in a situation that is generally female-dominated. If my 40 years on the planet have taught me one thing, it's that men and woman rarely see things the same way. I think multiple perspectives are particularly valuable when managing type 1. It's nice to have an opinion that doesn't mirror your own. Let's face it, woman are mostly responsible for the day-to-day stuff and it's difficult to spend every day with type 1 and then have your spouse come home and start making suggestions. It's tough to take that advice at times. Having other dads involved and sharing is a great way to hear other thoughts without that crazy feeling that you're being judged. Let me tell you, Girls, I understand more than you know. Nothing is easy about raising children and running a household.

What advice do you have for a dad who might be hesitant to start?

If you think that sharing your feelings and experiences is something you'd like to try, I say get to it. I was the type of person who wanted to take care of things on my own. I speak to a lot of mothers on the phone and they all have one thing in common: they're scared. The simple act of allowing yourself to be afraid and then understanding that you aren't the only one that feels these things releases so much anxiety. I hear that my blog helps people quite a bit and it's one of the most rewarding sentiments that I've ever received. If I'm being honest, I get so much more in return than I give. You should blog, even if you only do it a short time. It'll change your experience with all of this diabetes parenting stuff for the better. It'll reward you in ways you can't yet imagine.

Thanks to ALL the dads rocking in the DOC. And we hope you have a wonderful Father's Day, free of D-drama! 🙂

Disclaimer: Content created by the Diabetes Mine team. For more details click here.

Disclaimer

This content is created for Diabetes Mine, a consumer health blog focused on the diabetes community. The content is not medically reviewed and doesn't adhere to Healthline's editorial guidelines. For more information about Healthline's partnership with Diabetes Mine, please click here.

Type 2 Diabetes Treatment Type 2 Diabetes Diet Diabetes Destroyer Reviews Original Article