The Corner Booth

"As one chapter closes..." A decade ago in 2012, I had the privilege of joining with my friend and fellow diabetes advocate Amy Tenderich at DiabetesMine. At that time, my journalism career evolved into one that could be combined with my passion for diabetes and my own life with type 1 diabetes. I'd been personally blogging since 2007 and had been actively involved in the DOC (Diabetes Online Community) for a handful of years at that time, attending various conferences and forums with fellow advocates looking to "do good" in the world. I've been proud to be managing editor for so many years, covering this community and doing advocacy journalism there - before and after we became part of Healthline in 2015.The time has come, though, for my career page to turn to the next chapter. Healthline made a decision that it's time to close down DiabetesMine. We first heard about this decision-making in early 2022, and by mid-March the final decision had been made...

So many people with diabetes whose lives depend on insulin are struggling to afford and get access to this life-sustaining medication, and in some cases, they're rationing and even dying as a result. That's why every year in February, our Diabetes Community gets pretty vocal about the "Spare a Rose" initiative , a grassroots effort aimed at raising money to provide insulin and diabetes supplies for those in desperate need across the world. The idea is simple: Instead of buying the typical "dozen roses" that are so popular on Valentine's Day, you buy just 11 and donate the value of that last flower (roughly $3 to $5) to help someone with diabetes. You still get to be romantic and give roses, while also showing some love to someone who really needs it. Seriously, it really is that simple. You're literally just sparing a rose — at a minimum, because there is certainly an opportunity to spare all the roses and donate much more than just the cost...

A little girl with a green bracelet sees an adult man wearing one and asks if he has diabetes, and when he says “Yes” she responds with: “It’s OK, we can have diabetes together.” Elsewhere, a boy crawls under a round banquet table in search of a dropped insulin cartridge that isn’t even his own. When asked why, he notes it’s for another green bracelet wearer, and it’s just what we do for each other. All around, kids and adults exchange hugs and laughs. There are abundant smiles, emotional moments, and diabetes device flashes. There’s a sense in your gut that you are part of a community, a club, a family... that people living with type 1 are a tribe who understand and look out for each other, no matter our differing politics or where we hail from, our brand of advocacy, or even how long we’ve been touched by this illness. That is the magic of the annual Children With Diabetes Friends For Life conference, going strong for 20 years now each July in Orlando, FL. It began as a...

There's been a longstanding discussion among patient advocates over the need for new, more descriptive names that would better differentiate between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Every so often, the debate hits a fever pitch. New online petitions pop up, calling for change that supporters believe would eliminate confusion and better distinguish the actual realities of each health condition. Most recently the issue came up in response to WNYC Public Radio's Sugarland show , a pretty darn amazing investigative series highlighting the diabetes epidemic, that's covered the skyrocketing price of insulin. WNYC's illustrative journalism got it right in distinguishing between T1 and T2, but it also sparked comments about the need to revise the names. Our podcasting D-Mom friend Stacey Simms picked up on this in her Diabetes Connections podcast, and it’s led to a wave of fresh debate over the diabetes moniker. Clearly, this isn’t the first and won’t be the last time t...

The concept of "community" has been on my mind a lot lately, as I watch the shifting winds of the Diabetes Online Community (DOC). Specifically, all the emotions and connotations that come with the word "community" have been rolling around in my brain. Maybe it's my recent birthday that marks the final year of my 30s, or the fact that I'll soon hit my 34th dia-versary, or the recent loss of a beloved DOC friend... Our community isn't the same as it was a decade ago, obviously. Not even the same as a few short years ago. One of my observations is that these days, it seems more people with diabetes (PWDs) in the DOC are constantly on edge. Always fighting. Protesting. Walking around with metaphorical middle fingers up and not embracing the peer support side that started this whole contemporary DOC experience more than a decade ago. It often breaks my heart, because I feel the connections and friendships that made this such a truly life-changing part of my ...

The American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) is remaking itself in recent years, under new leadership that's far more "plugged in" to patients' real challenges and new technologies/online activity than ever before.  This professional org, historically focused inward on the careers of its ~ 14,000 members, has come into the spotlight of patient advocacy in recent years with the growing recognition that these folks are on the front lines of diabetes care, as their role is to offer PWDs practical real-world advice. Thanks to some key individuals -- notably 2016 AADE president Hope Warshaw, new 2018 president Donna Ryan , and CEO Charles Macfarlane -- the org is getting serious about embracing peer support and collaborating with the DOC (Diabetes Online Community). They've recently taken three important steps to make this a reality: Revamping their National Standards to emphasize that "peer support paired with diabetes self-management ed...

The Diabetes Hands Foundation is no more, but some of its core programs will stay alive under the umbrella of a young, powerhouse diabetes advocacy organization. In a startling development to many that's certain to shake up the Diabetes Community, the beloved Berkeley, CA-based non-profit that's been around since 2008 and maintained the popular TuDiabetes and EsTuDiabetes online communities is dissolving after nearly a decade. But the DHF's core online platforms -- with millions of users across the globe -- will transfer over to Beyond Type 1 , another Northern CA-based org that's just two years old but has been making waves with bold awareness efforts backed by badass celebrity connections. Official news broke Thursday, coincidentally the day before the big annual American Diabetes Association’s Scientific Sessions conference was set to start. The reasons are largely financial struggles within DHF, we’re told. There have been rumblings about sponsorship and funding ...

Meet George Huntley, a longtime type 1 who you can pretty much think of as a "professional volunteer" in diabetes advocacy. OK, we made that title up, but it's apropos given what this Indianapolis D-peep has been lending his free time and passion to a huge array of advocacy pursuits since the early years following his T1D diagnosis in the mid-1980s. He moved up through the ranks to top leadership positions with the American Diabetes Association, and went on to help create the Diabetes Leadership Council in 2013. That's all just the diabetes side of George, who is originally from Baltimore but has been in Indiana for two decades and is quite the interesting guy. His professional resume makes a good read -- listing an eclectic array of roles from IT consulting and mortgage appraisals to life sciences to working at an 80s and 90s startup making computer game simulators, being part of a heavy machinery company's business which included overseeing a box-m...