Dearest DOC: THANKS & Let's Keep Kicking Diabetes Ass in 2013!!!

Dearest DOC -

It's the end of 2012 and I was already to do a year end summary,but my brain just wasn't going there - So instead I decided to say thank-you.
The DOC has been such a rock in my life - Every single one of you has been there for me for the good, the bad and the diabetesalicious of it all - And everyday I draw strength with you, from you and because of you!
THANKS -YOU GUYS ROCK.
One of my favorite sayings is: "Hope floats." And I believe that 100% - And because of the Diabetes Online Community I have found hope when I've needed it most in my diabetes life, in my personal life and in my professional life.
And I've also found an incredible amount of joy because of the DOC - You have and continue to change my life in such amazing ways and and I can only hope that I've helped you in some small way.
You always have my back and are in my corner and I want you to know that I am there for you and will continue to fight for you 100% - We are family and I love you.
And lastly, I'm looking forward to continually kicking diabetes ass with you in 2013!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

"This Smells Like The Doctor's Office!!"

I was lucky enough to enjoy Christmas Eve dinner with a wonderful group of friends, including 6 little cousins under the age of 7.  My job as guest and official Honorary Auntie, was to cut up "The Littles" food into bite size pieces on their plates as their Uncle dished it out.
Little Miss Yellow, newly 5 and who's name derives from her favorite color and sunny disposition watched intently as I cut the salmon on her big brother's plate. Then she grabbed my belt loop and pointed to my insulin pump and asked: Why are you wearing that?
Me: That's my insulin pump. My belly's broken and it gives me medicine to turn my food into energy so I can grow strong.
Little Miss Yellow: Well does it help?
Me: It does!
Cut to two hours later when everyone was sitting in the living room opening gifts, talking and recovering from our food comas.
Little Miss Yellow bounced over to me, plopped on my lap and pointed to my insulin pump again and asked: Can I hold it?
Me: How about I let you hold the reservoir?
Little Miss Yellow: OK.
So I unscrewed the reservoir from my pump and placed it in her hand. Little Miss Yellow looked at it for about 5 seconds, put it up to her nose and sniffed. And then proclaimed as fact to everyone in the room: THIS SMELLS LIKE THE DOCTOR'S OFFICE!!
Me; Whaat??
Little Miss Yellow: THIS SMELLS LIKE MY DOCTOR'S OFFICE. THIS SMELLS EXACTLY LIKE IT DOES WHEN I GO TO MY DOCTORS OFFICE FOR MY WELLNESS VISIT!
And of course I laughed out loud and damn near rolled on the floor - Because Little Miss Yellow spot on!

I Have It On Very Good Authority That....

Santa reads diabetes blogs. #fact

Do Our Friends & Family Sans Diabetes Listen To What We Post About Diabetes?

So have you ever wondered the same thing & has anyone without diabetes ever told or showed you that what you do re: diabetes & D advocating matters? 
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Sometimes I/WE wonder if our blogging, tweeting, facebooking, instagraming, etc., of all things diabetes makes a difference to people in our lives sans diabetes. 

I MEAN I know it makes a huge difference in PWDs (people with diabetes) lives and I know it makes a huge difference in my life as a person living with diabetes. 
I know it makes a huge a huge difference in people who have loved ones living with diabetes. 

And I also know that Diabetes Orgs and Pharma are paying attention - And rightly so.

I know that other empowered patients read what we write and we read what other empowered patients write - And we learn from one another. 

And ever so slowly (VERY SLOWLY,) the media is starting to pay attention to diabetes realities.

But what about people in our lives without diabetes/a loved one with diabetes or who aren't working in the diabetes world? 

Does what we do/say/write/tweet make a difference, or does it become white noise to friends and family members who don’t live with diabetes on a daily basis? 

Personally, I know we make a difference - SO KEEP DOING WHAT YOU'RE DOING PEOPLE. 

How do I know? My friends and family tell me in passing that it does - Or they come right out and ask me questions about diabetes and tell me they want to help spread the D word. Sometimes they tell me that they never realized all the work diabetes took until they  started reading my posts and other d blogger posts I've linked to on Facebook. 
And every now and then I get a facebook message from someone I haven’t seen in years, but who follows me on facebook - And they flat out tell me it makes a difference. They tell me that they've learned something about diabetes from what I've posted or linked to. And sometimes they ask if they can pass my name on to a friend who either has diabetes, or loves someone with diabetes. 

Other times I run into non diabetes people from my local world in real life and occasionally they tell me the same things. 

And just last night a group of us were meeting up with our friend Kathy B at a local watering hole. Kath teaches in China and was home for the holidays  - We keep tabs on one another through facebook & IMing - And Kath reads my blog every now and then.  

But back to last night - Last night as our group sat there eating, drinking and catching up, Kath passed out Christmas gifts from China. 

She gave me my gift first and said: You first! You get the blue one - For Diabetes, World Diabetes Day, and... Blue Fridays - It’s Blue Fridays, right? And dude, you can put your diabetes stuff in it! 

And for a second I was like: WHAAAT? 

And then I said: WOW! Thanks & you made my day! I can’t believe you remembered all that D info!! 

And this is the gift Kathy gave me: 

5X7 Blue (for diabetes) Bag from my friend Kathy!

And then everyone else went back to talking and opening their gifts and I went back to eating my special occasion Cheeseburger.

But when I was driving home last night I kept thinking about how Kathy had retained all that D info about the DOC. Granted, she’s an English teacher and she’s one smart cookie - But I was impressed none the less! 

And I thought to myself: Tonight reinforced the fact that all of us in the DOC need to keep doing what we’re doing - And not just for people with diabetes - But for everyone else who needs to learn about diabetes - Because what we say isn't white noise.... And little ripples make big waves. 

One more thing: How cute is my bag! 

Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are!

Two weeks ago I was at a Birthday dinner when I realized my pump only had 5 units left -  I know, total rookie move on my part!  Speaking of rookie moves, yours truly was sans back up insulin to boot! 

Since we were at pizza joint I knew that 5 units just wouldn’t do, so I excused myself - And assured my friends that all was OK in Busted Pancreas Land and that I was just being wifty in the diabetes department. Then I drove home to get a quick refill. Luckily for me I only lived a mile away so it was no big deal... Or so I thought.

When I got home I went straight for the fridge to grab my bottle of opened insulin....except I couldn’t find it.  I checked on my nightstand and in my bathroom - even on my coffee table - And the missing bottle wasn’t in any of those places - It was no where to be found. 

I had just crack open a new bottle 9 days earlier and I was pissed off at myself beyond belief! 

That  bottle had only been opened a little over a week and opening a new bottle meant that I would eventually have to throw some good insulin one way or another. 

I could keep looking m and that's what I did, but after 15 minutes I caved and opened a new bottle.

Cut to the next day when I found my rogue insulin bottle - On my kitchen counter hidden behind a bag of Starbucks Medium Roast - exactly where I’d left it. 

So what’s a gal with a busted pancreas do in this situation?? 

This gal continued to use the old bottle until 3 days ago and then started the newer bottle of opened insulin, which according to the 30 day out of the fridge rule will be toast by December 31st. 

I HATE when crap like that happens. I hate wasting good insulin just like I hate receiving an error on my meter and wasting a good test - strip - Or having a newly minted infusion site and my tubing/infusion set get yanked out by a doorknob. And I hate that sometimes, even when we don't want to, we have change our infusion set with 10 units left because we have to. 

My insurance doesn’t understand that “shit happens” when it comes to diabetes. 

That sometimes a perfectly good opened bottle of insulin can smash on a tile floor or get lost behind the bag of Starbucks for a few days. 

So has anyone else been forced to waste their precious diabetes supplies and felt like a complete jackass for having had to? 

Everything Comes Out In The Wash.......

Including test-strips!
And I have a feeling that you might be able to relate ;)  

Today's Giveaways: 5 Disney/Lilly Diabetes Book Collections

The winners have been chosen!
Congrats: Pancrasticmom, Stacey, (Our Life with D,) NicDuck, ajsmamma & Alecia. 
Please email me (kellykunik@gmail.com)  your addresses so you can get your prizes!
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 Today's giveaways are brought to you courtesy of Lilly Diabetes and the Disney/Lilly Diabetes T1 Book Shelf and involves yummy recipes; a Type 1 Monkey named Coco,  Hannah Montana & her buddy Oliver & 3 TWDs - tweens with diabetes.  

And it's seriously Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

Yep, today 5 people get the chance to win the entire Disney Lilly Diabetes Library of seven books including:

Dishing It Up Disney Style

Coco & Goofy's Big Day 

Coco Goes Back To School

ESPN Power Forward 

Hannah Montana™ Uptight - Oliver's All Right

ESPN Running Interference 

ESPN Up For The Challenge

How to enter: Leave a comment saying why you'd like to win a set of books - That's it!

Who can enter: 

*ANYONE with diabetes 

*ANYONE who has a child with diabetes 

*ANYONE who loves someone with diabetes.

You have today until tomorrow when I announce the 5 winners here on the blog. 

And while I can't promise the books will arrive in time for Christmas morning - I'll try my best! 

Why This Giveaway ROCKS:  

These books are incredible learning tools for ANYONE living with diabetes.... And invaluable teaching tools for anyone wanting to learn about diabetes - whether they're a friend; child, cousin, niece, nephew or classmate of someone living with diabetes. 
And did I mention that they're well written? 

And currently these books are only available through pediatric endocrinologist offices reaching out to their Lilly reps.

So many people (both parents of cwds & adults with diabetes) contacted me when I wrote about them  asking how they could get copies. 

Well, here's your chance! 

GOOD LUCK! 

Me & Coco @ CWD in July
 Love this Pic!! 

Today's Giveaway: 3 CVS Grab Bags Up For Grabs

This contest is now closed & Congrats to @matthew Deets, @ Charity Brenke & Laura - YOU WON!!

Please email me (kellykunik@gmail.com) so your grab bags can be shipped & CONGRATS!!!

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Today's giveaway's courtesy of CVS Pharmacy and 3 lucky people will get to win a CVS grab bag of all types of CVS Extracare Advantage for Diabetes program (ECAD) grab bag!

The grab bag/ box contains CVS products including: a needle collection disposal container(which I was in desperate need of), a CVS meter/strips toothpaste/ brushes, Eucerin (I have really dry skin,) cough medicine, cough drops, diabetic socks(which actually are very nice), glucose tabs, and a few other goodies. 

CVS has been working closely with the American Diabetes Association  and is donating $1 to the ADA for every pic uploaded to ADA's facebook page until March 1, 2013! 

You can read more about that, HERE. 

CVS grab bag goodies close up

CVS grab bag of goodies - camera panned back

HOW TO WIN: Leave a comment as to why you'd like to win and what diabetes/ life supplies you're constantly running to CVS for. Also, tweeting and retweets also count & doing both doubles your fun.

WHO CAN WIN: Anyone who loves someone with diabetes or anyone who loves someone with a busted pancreas.

CHANGE TO THE RULES: Since this post went up late due to technical difficulties, you can post until midnight & the winners will be announced first thing tomorrow on my facebook page & tomorrow's blog post.

GOOD LUCK!!

BACK STORY ON THE GIVEAWAY.

Back in November the folks from CVS contacted me about their Extra Care Advantage for Diabetes program.

ECAD is free (always a plus in my book,) and works by providing its members with 4% cash back on over 100 different diabetes related items in conjunction with your CVS card and received quarterly in the form of CVS Bucks - So there's that. 

ECAD also helps with RX management services, gives it's members special weekly deals and promos, newsletters, videos, etc. 

Full Disclosure: CVS sent me the above grab bag - and I can't tell you how much appreciated it!

WHY? Because the grab bag came at great time for me, 

 My town had been visited by Sandy a week earlier. 

And my CVS ( on the other side of the river/street) was under water.

My CVS had to be gutted - And I had go miles to get basics like toothpaste and milk.
But more importantly, I was worried about getting my prescriptions filled & I thought I was going to have to go to a CVS 10 miles inland.

But in less than week, CVS had set up an RX trailer in their parking lot - less than a mile from my house.

It's open until 10 pm, 7 nights a week, and the CVS pharmacists are working hard to fill
everyone in my town's prescriptions -
You have no idea how much we all appreciate that and what peace of mind it's given to me personally! 

Today's Giveaway: Hail Merry Gluten Free Deliciousness!

Congratulations to Aliza Chan Zaleon for winning yesterday's Glucolift Sample Pack prize!

Thanks to all who entered!

You can still get 15% off via the "TRYGLNOW" coupon code for all orders over $10 & until the end of the year at Buyglucolift.com or their store on Amazon.com! 

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Today's giveaway are gluten free macaroons courtesy of HailMerry.com 

These treats are not only gluten free and made of all natural ingredients (ingredients listed at the end of the post, but they're also incredibly bolus worthy and easy to bolus for - And they will knock your damn socks off! 

2 people will have the opportunity to win Hail Merry Macaroons,(which actually taste more like brownies or blondies, IMHO) in either Choco or Blond & will have those treats delivered to their door in a festive "First Love Blue Macaroon Tin."

This tins normally retail for $20 each, but are FREE to today's winners!! 

Thank you HAILMERRY.COM!! 

Choco goodnessThe choco macaroons are so darn chocolately that some might actually get them confused with brownies!
Serving size: 2 Choco's = 10 grabs of carbs & 3 grams of fiber

Blond Macaroons
Blond Macaroons are vanilla perfectionServing Size; 2 Blondies = 10 grams of carbs & 3 grams of fiber

You might be saying: Gluten free! How do they taste? 

I'm here to tell you these Macaroons taste great!!! 

I first tried Hail Merry products after watching a segment on Good Morning America which featured them. 

And I couldn't help but notice that George Stephanopoulos and company couldn't stop eating the macaroons - They were actually saying: I can't stop eating these macaroons!! 

By the end of the 3 minute segment there were barely any macaroons left on the table and as the camera panned out, George S & friends  were still eating them like it was the last supper!

That's when I decided to order me up a Hail Merry Snack Pack - And I've been hooked on their products ever since! 

Look guys, I don't have gluten issues and I love these macaroons! 

i'm also a huge fan of their Hail Merry Grawnola!  

Who can enter the contest ? 

Anyone with diabetes or gluten issues or anyone who loves someone with diabetes or gluten issues.

How can you win?

Simply leave a comment saying why you'd like to win & what flavor you'd prefer.

You have until 8pm tonight to leave your comments and & at 8:45 (15 minutes early because of the #DSMA  twitter chat at 9) I'll announce two winners on the Diabetesaliciousness facebook page and twitter! 

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 Ingredients:  

Choco Macaroons: organic maple syrup, organic shredded coconut, Fair trade dark cocoa, organic extra virgin coconut oil, organic Madagascar bourbon vanilla, & sea salt. 

 Blond Macaroons: organic shredded coconut, organic maple syrup, natural raw almond flour, organic extra virgin coconut oil, organic Madagascar bourbon vanilla, sea salt.

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Holiday Giveaway: Lift Pesky Low Blood Sugars & Your Spirits At The Same Time!!

Today's the first day of 4 days of Diabetesalicious Holiday Giveaways. 

Giveaway number one is all about lifting low blood sugars and your spirits via a 3 Bottle Sample Pack of Glucolift Glucose tabs.

Glucolift Glucotabs are all natural,non GMO & come in three great flavors; Wildberry, Cherry & Orange Cream. 

I first tried Glucolift Glucose Tabs at The Children With Diabetes Friends For Life Conference in Orlando, Florida last July - And I was impressed!

Glucolift's tasty and isn't chalky at all. But most importantly, Glucolift does the job of getting those low blood sugars to take off!  

CWD was also the first time I met Glucolift's creator and fellow t1, Christopher Angell - And again - Impressed! 

Chris is what we in the Diabetes On-Line Community call "good people," and 'he's become an active part of the DOC. You can find Chris on-line on the Glucolift blog, facebook page and on the twitter~

And now for the contest Rules: See Below

Today's prize: Glucolift Sample Pack that's tasty, awesome -And it could be yours!

Today's prize: A Three Bottle Sample Pack of Glucolift, plus travel tubes & some very cool Glucolift stickers that will lift your spirits every time you look at them.

Normal Cost: $22.99, plus shipping and handling.

Your cost if you win: FREE

Who can enter: Anyone & everyone in the United States and Canada who has diabetes or who loves someone with diabetes. 

How to win: Enter your comment up until 8 pm, EST tonight, basically saying that you'd like a chance to win Glucolift Glucose tabs & why. 

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!

***Extra good Karma from Chris Angell in the form of a 15% off coupon code good until 12/31/2012 for all Glucolift orders over $10 at both BuyGlucolift.com and Amazon.com.

Coupon Code: TRYGLNOW 

THANKS In All Dimensions & The Diabetesalicious Holiday Giveaway(s)

First: The response to Friday's blog post re: people with diabetes who were hit hard by Sandy & who are in need of D supplies was stellar!

DOCers, you guys hit it out of the park with your generosity!
I've received a ton of emails from people more than willing to donate diabetes supplies to PWDs in the Rockaway's and surrounding areas.  THANKS SO MUCH,GUYS & keep the good karma going - You are helping so many!

If YOU have any supplies you'd like to donate, email me at: kellykunik@gmail.com & I'll email you Stacey Hodes Nagel's home address.
Speaking of good karma and all that goes with it tomorrow starts four days of Diabetesalacious Giveaways and I'm incredibly excited!!
Personally, I'm a big fan of each of the prizes that have been generously donated & have tried and love them all!
Here's how the Diabetesalicious Holiday Giveaway works:
1. Each day for the next four days I will write a post about that day's giveaway(s).
2. If you're so inclined to enter that giveaway - Please leave a comment on said post.
3. If you want to up your chances, you can also tweet/retweet about the giveaway  - Just make sure I'm cc: on the tweet: @diabetesalish - Also, there's no limit to how many prizes you can win - So enter every day if you'd like!
4. All the comments/ tweets will be thrown together in a draw generator and the winners get picked that night
5. That night @ 9pm, EST, I'll post the winner(s) name(s) on the Diabetesaliciousness Facebook page as well as posting their names on the next day's post.
5. Winners must email me their addresses (kellykunik@gmail.com) or DM them, via the facebook. Once you do that, the prize(s) will be shipped out and arrive at your door in the very near future--

Why I'm doing this: You guys have been for me so much, especially this past year & I just wanted to say "Thank-you."  So.... THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

Giving, Getting & Being Grateful: People With Diabetes & Their Family Members Slammed By Sandy Need Our Help!

Originally, today's post was going to be all about giveaways - Until I read and became part of a facebook conversation last night. So after reaching out to a few the people involved, I've changed the gist of this post ... for the most part ;) 

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People affected by Hurricane Sandy hold a special place in my heart for obvious reasons - As do people with diabetes - And for obvious reasons - Which is why I'm posting about several members of the Diabetes On-line community who were, or whose family members were hit hard by Sandy.

Basically, the majority of this post is re: a tale of two Staceys - Stacey Hodes Nagel & Stacey Divone - And it's all about giving and a little bit about getting some good karma going.

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FIRST UP: Stacey Hodes Nagel

Stacey Hodes Nagel is a mom to a t1 son named Jessie, and is active diabetes warrior and a familiar face to both the DOC and http://childrenwithdiabetes.com/

I first met Stacey Hodes Nagel on-line and she always made me laugh!

 I met her in IRL (in real life) at The CWD Focus on Technology Conference outside of Philadelphia last February - She ran up to me and gave me a huge hug - and she ROCKS!

Stacey's a Rockaway girl and that area  were devastated by Sandy. 

But even after being displaced for weeks, and currently only having electricity for 75% of her house, Stacey & her tenacious self is working tirelessly to help other families & individuals living with diabetes who are in dire need of diabetes supplies post Sandy!

According to Stacey: It's still so horrible here... And the volunteers are dwindling.. And the city/state /fema /red cross have been non existent for over a week... There are still people without heat, hot water... We only have electric in 75% of our house.... I feel like we are the forgotten land here.

People with diabetes need infusion sets, pump reservoirs and test strips  freestyle lite, one touch, accu-Chek .., pen needles too.

Stacey the day after Sandy with members of the National Guard

Pump batteries (both double and triple AAA) as well as flashlight batteries & meter batteries.

The people I've been collecting pump supplies for use animas, medtronic and three are using tSlim & and I just gave someone 90% Jessie's Cozmo stuff. Anything people can donate would be greatly appreciated!"

DOC Diabetes Supply Hoarders, this is where you comes in! Put all those good hoarded D supplies to good use!

If you have supplies that you could donate,email me at: kellykunik@gmail.com & I will forward you Stacey's mailing address!

Also, I know that Stacey put out a call for space heaters and really warm sleeping bags last week on facebook, so if you have, or know someone who does have those items, email me & I'll give you Stacey's address!


SECOND BUT JUST AS IMPORTANT: Stacey Divone & her Type 3 twin sister, Laurie.

Everyone in the DOC knows and loves Stacey Divone of http://portablepancreasgirl.com/ fame. 
Stacey D's a good friend to everyone in the DOC and is a positive cheerleader for all of us!  

Most of you know that Stacey has an identical twin named Laurie Nunziato.  

Laurie has literally been Stacey D's other half since before they were born and has been an awesome type 3 for  Stacey's  since the day Stacey was diagnosed!  We can't forget about the type 3s who love us! 

But did you also know that Laurie and her family lost almost everything they own due to Sandy flooding?? Below is a picture of Laurie's house post Sandy  - They lost almost everything!

The Nunziato house after Sandy

Stacey D has set up a fundraising page for her sister, brother-in-law and her awesome niece and nephew - And again, this is where the DOC comes in!

No amount is too small as far as donations go and a little goes a hell of a long way! 

And did I mention that any and all donations are tax deductible?  I didn't? Well, they sure are!

Click on the following link to find out how you can help the Nunziato's!

http://www.giveforward.com/nunziatoshope
Btw, click on Nunziato's link above and take a look at the picture of the house that's practically submerged underwater  - That's the outside of their home!  Then marinate on that image for a second.. 

Lastly, with all the giving - You will get a few things in return:

1. You will feel really good because you're helping others - And by helping others, we help ourselves.

2. And you will feel really grateful because you will be reminded of how good you have it.

3. Lastly, it's just good karma and the universe is bound to send some good things your way! 

Like what you ask?? 

Well, you could achieve spiritual nirvana, which can only help you achieve blood sugar nirvana - So there's that! 

And that karma might even help you win a holiday giveaway or 17! 

There are some really awesome holiday giveaways going on around the DOC  this season - And I like to think the holiday giveaways I've planned for next week are also in the awesome category.

 Yep, I'm having a series of holiday giveaways next week to thank the DOC for being so... (and, yes I'm being redundant,) awesome - So a little good karma floating out in the universe never hurts anyone - At least that's how I see it!  And after the past year,I'll take all the good karma I can get! 
Good Karma doesn't guarantee that you'll win prizes - online or off, but it does guarantee that you will help people who could really use it! And that is a wonderful thing. #truth

Sidebar: If I forgot to add your giveaway, email me &I'll fix it. FYI: I put the finishing touches on this post at work - you know how that goes ;)

So from the bottom of my busted pancreas, thanks in advance for helping PWDs (people with diabetes) and their family members who were slammed by Sandy!!

FYI: I've disabled comments for this particular post so if you'd like to donate diabetes supplies, email me directly at: kellykunik@gmail.com & I'll email you Stacey Hodes Nagel's mailing address. 

And to those that have already emailed me and dm'd me on the twitter & facebook,  THANK YOU!