Are you still out there, readers? I assume that you are. I've remained quiet in my little space here. Why? It's hard to say. There are a plethora of reasons.
People are saying that blogging is dead; long live blogging.
Every blogging site is promising a "beautifully designed" and "unique" and "amazing" blog/site/whatever. But content is always king, right? I should give you some content to read.
Over ten years ago, when I started Dorkabetic, we (the Diabetes Online Community) were all blogging away, meeting each other via comments sections and daily readership. Now the DOC is so huge I can't keep up. I remember when we all started using Twitter, and now the world *is* Twitter. And Instagram. And...Snapchat? I don't have Snapchat. I'm being an old, crotchety Xennial about it.
{Author's Note: I should probably learn Snapchat. Give me a good reason to start?}
I am looking at some big diabetes changes on my personal horizon. I want someplace to talk about them. If you've just found me, or if you've been following me forever, I hope to see you around.
I want to talk about paperwork. I want to talk about insulin pump choices. I want to talk about my perspective. I want to talk about...the Freestyle Libre if I get one? I want to talk about geekery as it relates to diabetes.
Can we do this? Can we start again? Are you with me?
I went to dinner with my friend Mike recently. I pulled out my meter to check my blood sugar at the restaurant table.
"Oh, I was meaning to ask you," he exclaimed, "if you've seen the ads for the Accu-Chek Nano!" I had not. I was puzzled. I was also kind of amazed that I hadn't seen an ad for it. Diabetes ads always catch my eye. "I can't believe you haven't seen it!" he continued. "There's a theme song and everything."
"A what now? Seriously?"
And there, in the restaurant, over a massive basket of delicious fried onions, Mike very quietly broke into half-hearted song. "It's like, uh...Accu-Chek Nano, the one that I choose...da da da da and easy to use...now with 9% more accuracy."
I could not believe that my non-diabetic friend was singing a blood glucose meter theme song to me.
After laughing a bunch at the absurdity of this situation, I made a skeptical face. "9% more accuracy? That's not really a lot. Is that all they have to tout about it? I mean, I know you're not exactly hip to what constitutes a good glucometer, but that doesn't seem too impressive." I paused. I cackled. "I cannot believe I am going on about a blood glucose meter to you because you heard about it first. Maybe I'm falling behind. I should blog more! Am I losing my touch?"
We laughed and went back to our regularly scheduled silly, geeky dinner conversation. But then...
I went back to his house to hang out so he could show me the video. I present to you the song which will stick in your head all afternoon:
First of all, I discovered the meter actually has 23% more accuracy, something like that. WAY more impressive than 9. Actually, the Nano website states that their strips have "advanced accuracy...as tested against a 23% tighter specification." Whatever that means exactly, there is a footnote on their site which hopefully explains it better. Consumers are most likely hearing IT'S 23% MORE ACCURATE THAN THOSE OTHER GUYS OMG WANT.
Second of all, the damned song got stuck in my head. Has anyone out there ever known a blood glucose meter ad to have a catchy jingle? Ever? (Does not count as an ad jingle: SugaSheen and The Diabetic Rap and the Diabeetus Remix.)
Thirdly, I felt like I had heard this ditty somewhere else. It struck me that it's stylistically similar to the theme song to My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Because yes, I am that kind of geek. Get over it. The parody lyrics pop into my head on occasion: My Little Nano...I used to wonder 'what was my BG?' My Little Nano...with super-duper accuracy!
As many of you may already know, Accu-Chek products are made by Roche Diagnostics, who annually gets a ton of d-bloggers together for their Diabetes Social Media Summit. For the sake of disclosure, I have never been invited to attend the Summit, and Roche has not contacted me to talk about the Accu-Chek Nano. This all just kind of happened. [author's note: Don't worry, Roche--I ain't mad at ya. While I'd love to go to the Summit sometime, I feel the diabetes community is in good hands with the people who DO attend the Summit each year.]
So now I'm curious this meter. They've got a catchy song highlighting its best features! A song so catchy that people without diabetes think this meter is fantastic! The marketing communications geek in me is freaking out about how effective this ad seems to be, even though I have no evidence that it's made an impression on anyone besides my friend Mike and me.
"I think you need one," he said.
"They do make it seem pretty fancy," I said.
If anybody out there in DOC-land is using one, I'd love to know your impressions.
I would like to thank my favorite ninja, George, for making me laugh this morning with his fantasy device. Little did we know, maybe our pals at Skynet Google are creating the glasses of the future which we are seeking!
I can think of all kinds of "fantasy" devices, like a tubeless pump that holds 300 units, a device that checks your blood sugar without any kind of poking, something that will enable me to wear my pump without bulk or strapping it under my boobs. These are the kinds of things we all wish for every day. A working pancreas. A closed loop system. A cure. A CGM sensor that doesn't cost a zillion dollars.
But I am thinking fantasy here, people. Seeing as this is DORKabetic, let's get overly geeky for a second.
Introducing...Diabetes Navi
If you've played Legend of Zelda, you probably know Navi as that annoying little sprite who follows you everywhere. "Hey! Hey! Listen!" she says. "Look!"
Diabetes Navi would follow you around, keeping you out of danger, alerting you to the Dexcom alarm you've been ignoring for 20 minutes, nudging you to bolus for your carbs. She may get irritating after a while, but she might also save you a lot of hassle. She'd intuitively know when that barista put sugar in your latte instead of Splenda, when those test strips have expired, when your insulin has baked in the hot sun. "Look!" Suddenly, you realize your vial is cloudy. She'd be really helpful when the d-moms and dads can't always be around, or if you're really stubborn like me about checking alarms.
Plus, wouldn't it just be cool to have a glowing orb with wings that follows you around, looking out for you wherever you go?
"Hey, look!"
"Whoa, a stray kitten needs my help! Thanks, Diabetes Navi!"
"Listen!"
"That drunk-looking dude behind me in line needs glucose tabs because he's actually having a hypo!"
"Look! Look!"
"OMG LOOK AT THAT DEXCOM FLAT LINE AT 115! High-five, Navi!"
I am 30. My husband and many of my friends are right around the same age. So what happens when you take people of this age and put them in a room with two almost-five year olds?
Suddenly, Legos.
Is it actually bigger on the inside? If you use your imagination it is! (And for those of you who are less geeky than some of us, this is a TARDIS from Doctor Who. You just need to know that it allows you to travel through space & time.)
Hello Kitty parks her car in this pagoda-inspired garage that I made. She gets some green energy credits by having that tree on the top.
