As we wrap up a summer season that’s been anything but normal, we find ourselves transitioning into an uncertain fall, with a contested election and a pandemic still looming.
For people with diabetes active across various online platforms — blogs, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter — there’s been quite a bit to take note of from September 2020.
Here’s a look at some of our fave posts from this past month, in no particular order:
Beyond Type 1 hosted a number of valuable online summits during the month of September, touching on racial and ethnic disparities, body image, food, and culture topics around diabetes. These virtual events are definitely worth checking out if you haven’t yet.
Advocate Renza Scibilia in Australia shares an important POV at her Diabetogenic blog about the impact of language choices and what it’s like when people with diabetes (or anyone, really) is made to feel as though they do not actually matter.
Visuals on Instagram have the power to capture our minds and hearts, and Miss Diabetes created a heading-turning 2020-appropriate “masked” diabetes graphic illustrating symptoms that people with diabetes might experience in our current mask-requiring environment.
How an insulin pump shutdown a courthouse in North Carolina… this news story is certainly a head-shaker and must-read, about how a discarded Omnipod in a trash bin inside a local courthouse caused a ruckus recently.
Wildfires on the West Coast have been horrific to witness and many around the D-Community have been impacted. Many folks have also been helping out on the #insulin4all donation front, along with the Diabetes Disaster Response Coalition sharing supplies, resources, and tips for those in trouble.
High blood sugars are never fun, but we appreciated the fun spin that Molly at Hugging the Cactus took in doing some “diabetes detective work” on the reasons behind a recent hyperglycemia event.
These “diabetes fails” depicted on YouTube are certainly worth checking out for a few smiles in these ever-so-stressful times. Props to the Between Two Lines channel for this one. And if you’re like us, you’ll probably find yourself nodding in recognition.
Longtime type 1 Joanne Milo at The Savvy Diabetic blog recently featured a Germany-based diabetes alert dog (aka D.A.D.) named Riley and his human T1D counterpart, Bernd. You can’t argue with anything featuring dogs, right?!
Speaking of pets in the online community, a new Twitter user recently created the fun Cats of the DOC account, where many furry friends of Diabetes Online Community (DOC) members are featured. Some may recall that in the early days of the DOC, there was lots of sharing about cats and dogs helping their pancreas-challenged humans.
New billboards have been put on display in Indianapolis near the home-base of insulin manufacturer Eli Lilly, featuring D-Mom and #insulin4all advocate Nicole Smith Holt, whose son Alec died after rationing his insulin due to the high prices. This is a very Hollywood way to protest, it seems.
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Your (and my) diabetes may vary. One of the “Old Guard” diabetes bloggers Bennet Dunlap resurfaced recently to briefly explain how it feels when your kids with T1D grow up… but you still have type 2 diabetes to grapple with yourself.
D-Mom Stacey Simms shared an inspiring podcast recently about a woman who’s lived 66 years with type 1 diabetes. We definitely enjoyed listening to that Diabetes Connections episode featuring Jeanne Martin, entitled “I’ve Never Dwelled On It.”
Many in our D-Community saw the news of Wilford Brimley’s death earlier this summer, notable given the actor’s longtime type 2 and many appearances on TV commercials over the years promoting diabetes supplies and brands. On Instagram, we couldn’t help but chuckle at this good-natured tribute to Wilford by The Diabetic Survivor.
That’s what has been on our radar over the past month or so. Please chime in and share your favorite diabetes posts, too, if you like! Ping us via email or on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.