The Corner Booth

Hello again. Blue Care Network. It's me again. The guy you've added to "The List" on potential rabble-rousers, those you sound warning bells on whenever their name pops up in the call que or a written communication comes in. Yep, that guy . We've done this dance before, you and I. Remember? Letter to My Insurance Company: I'd Rather Not Die Today If My Diabetes Devices Were Parts of a Car... My inhaled insulin Rx request that you initially denied, and then changed your mind on. The other battles that I didn't care to continue, because even though it was a question of improving my health, it wasn't worth my sanity. Yet amazingly, you don't seem to learn the lesson. Even though it's clear you have a pattern of "deny first" and thoughtfully-consider the request later on appeal, the cycle continues. Alert your supervisors, because you're all in for another round. A few weeks ago, my doctor's office called in a pres...

As my endo read through the medical chart at a recent appointment, I sat there anxiously waiting for him to tell me my latest A1C. He scanned the notes and rattled off bits of information about prescriptions, before getting to the meat and potatoes (so to speak) of our visit. If you were a fly on the wall at that moment, you would have seen me all jittery, leaning forward in the chair waiting for the words to emerge. After what seemed like an eternity, he spoke: Your A1C is 7.7% My heart sank. While not really much different than my previous result, it was a 10th of a percentage point higher than last time at 7.6. Sure, it was only a tiny change, but in my head a screaming voice of judgement shouted: " Your A1C went up! " I was beyond bummed, especially because I've been putting in a lot of effort over the past few months to do better. Apparently, this A1C was telling me that I was in fact doing worse than before, even if just a little bit. Then I began to doubt... was th...

As my endo read through the medical chart at a recent appointment, I sat there anxiously waiting for him to tell me my latest A1C. He scanned the notes and rattled off bits of information about prescriptions, before getting to the meat and potatoes (so to speak) of our visit. If you were a fly on the wall at that moment, you would have seen me all jittery, leaning forward in the chair waiting for the words to emerge. After what seemed like an eternity, he spoke: Your A1C is 7.7% My heart sank. While not really much different than my previous result, it was a 10th of a percentage point higher than last time at 7.6. Sure, it was only a tiny change, but in my head a screaming voice of judgement shouted: " Your A1C went up! " I was beyond bummed, especially because I've been putting in a lot of effort over the past few months to do better. Apparently, this A1C was telling me that I was in fact doing worse than before, even if just a little bit. Then I began to doubt... was ...

  When it comes to people who've earned the designation of Amazing Advocate in our ongoing series here at the 'Mine, Paul Madden is a natural fit. Without a doubt, he's one of the most influential diabetes advocates of our time, who's become an inspiration to kids, adults, and families aross the world. Aside from his incredibly long list of professional and personal accomplishments over the past four decades, Paul is a longtime type 1 himself, diagnosed as a child. You name it, Paul's done it. He's held leadership roles in the Children With Diabetes, American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE), and currently he's vice president of the Diabetes Education and Camping Association (DECA), to name a few. Professionally, this D-peep worked for 30 years at the famous Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, rising up the ranks to director of advocacy and eventually becoming special assistant to the president. He also worked for a number of years ...