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FDA – Where to Begin, What to Do

Chris Stocker

As you may recall, I attended the Roche Social Media Summit last month in Indianapolis. This post is not 100% about that event, but a common theme and topic of discussion was the FDA. Whether it was a discussion of people being unhappy about their processes, or products being released 4 years earlier in Europe before they make to the States, or they feel overwhelmed and discouraged that they can’t read the documents and don’t know what they can do to help the FDA.

These are also all questions and concerns that I have. I have always wanted to be able to learn more about the regulation and governmental part of the diabetes industry, but I have always felt overwhelmed when trying to read any sort of FDA documentation. I always felt that these documents purposely add big and confusing words at the beginning to make me click the X button right at the very beginning. Read More

New Kettle Weight Workout

Chris Stocker 1 Comment

I started to fall off of my old exercise routine and I knew that I needed to get back into it, but I just really have not had much time to drive to the gym, work out for 30 minutes and then drive back home.  So, I knew that I was going to have to start exercising at home again.  I have a stationery recumbent bike in my house that I used to ride daily, but the batteries died out and do you know how hard it is to find D batteries?  Well, if you don’t know, it’s pretty damn hard.

I have had a kettle weight laying around my house for a while and I never really used it, so I figured what better time to start using it then right now.  And, let me tell you, this thing has been kicking my ass for the last 3 days.  I started this on Tuesday and have done it Wednesday and earlier today.  It is a short 8 minute workout, so there is no excuses for not having the time.  10 minutes out of the day is not that bad.  But, I feel like I am getting an hour workout in. Read More

Support Living Vertical

Chris Stocker

If you haven’t heard of Steve Richert, then you are about to now.

Steve’s website can provide more details than I can, so I am going to provide the links to these site.  Basically, Steve has decided to climb every single day for 365 straight days.  This project has been title Project 365.  Please check out Steve’s sites related to climbing and “Like” the related Facebook pages. Read More

One Heck of a Dexcom Ride

Chris Stocker 1 Comment

The other day I went on one heck of a Dexcom ride.  I don’t like roller coasters because I have a serious fear of heights and have a firm belief that my death will come by way of a poisonous snake bite or a roller coaster coming off the tracks.  Therefore, I avoid roller coasters.  However, I cannot avoid those diabetes blood sugar roller coasters at all times.  Even though I try to, they still occur.

I haven’t had one in a while, but boy did I have one on Wednesday.  Tuesday night I was high, near the 300’s.  By the time I woke up in the morning, I had it down to about 120-ish.  Then I ate lunch and it went back up.  Right before dinner I went low to about 60-ish.  I was going to be eating chicken and rice, so I figured I would wait until halfway through my meal to take my insulin because I didn’t want to go super low while I was eating.  That’s when the steep increase at the beginning of the coaster started.  I went from a bg of 70 to a bg of 370 in under an hour.  I have NEVER gone that high, that fast.  In fact, I didn’t even think it was possible.  If it wasn’t for testing my blood sugar to make sure my Dexcom was giving me the right numbers, I would have never believed it. Read More

New Perspective on the Cost of Strips

Chris Stocker

A lot of my next few posts are related to the Roche Social Media Summit because it sparked a lot of ideas in my mind to blog about. This one in particular is about our trip through their manufacturing in Indianapolis. I spoke to several people who have toured either this facility or other facilities in the past and they feel that once you seen one, you have seem them all. Well, I have never seen one before, so it was all new and crazy to me.

As the title of this post points out, I have a new perspective on the high cost of test strips. Now, before I begin, let me say, I still think that there are ways to lower the costs a bit, but I can now understand a little better the reasons for these costs. Read More

Blinded vs Unblinded CGM Usage

Chris Stocker 1 Comment

During one of the Roche Social Media Summit sessions, the idea of blinded vs unblinded data was brought up. I’m not going to go into detail on why it was brought up or in regards to what product, because I just want to discuss the concept as a whole.

First, let me explain what blind vs unblinded data is. Blinded data, in regards to diabetes, is data that is collected in which the patient does not have direct access to. For example, if a patient is put on a 7 day trial of a Dexcom (or other CGM) to either trial the product or to have a 24 hour look at a patient’s blood sugar levels. This data will be used by the doctors to make a decision on your treatment plan. If the data is blinded then you as the patient cannot see the real time data, but will be shown graphs by the doctor after the determined time frame has passed. Read More

Josh Bleil – Motivational Speaker from Indianapolis Colts

Chris Stocker 6 Comments

As you all know, I was one of the attendees of the fourth Roche Diabetes Social Media Summit. Just like I did last year, I will be writing 4-5 separate posts about the summit and then ending with a summary of the entire trip and my overall thoughts. There are a lot of conversations that are held there and a lot of ideas that spark into my head, so I have so much to blog about. I wanted to start with the one thing that affected me the most, and I think a lot of attendees will probably say the same, and that is Josh Bleil from the Indianapolis Colts.

On the first full day of the summit and our first day of sessions, I noticed on the agenda that there would be somebody speaking from the Colts organization. I had no idea who the person was, if he was a player, did he have diabetes, did his mother have diabetes, or a child, no clue whatsoever. When I initially saw him walk into the room, I thought that I saw him walking with a cane, but I wasn’t sure. Read More

Book Review – Kids First Diabetes Second

Chris Stocker

When I received an excerpt copy of Kids First, Diabetes Second, the very first thing that stood out to me was the cover. The cover includes art from Karen Graffeo that she created as part of Diabetes Art Day in 2011. This cover will grab your attention right away.

The book is broken down into very simple, easy to read chapters.

The first chapter introduces you to who Leighann is and gives a detailed description of Q’s diagnosis day. For those that have gone through a diagnosis, either your own or a family member or child, then you probably experienced many of the same feelings and emotions that are described in this book. I couldn’t help but think about some of the same thoughts and reactions to situations described in the book that I had felt on the day I was diagnosed almost 10 years ago. Read More

Community of Diabetes

Chris Stocker 3 Comments

Community.  What does it mean to you?  If you all haven’t seen the video yet that has been quickly making it’s way around the intrawebs, then here’s a link to it, along with the full video at the end of the post.  The video explains itself, but let me give a quick explanation.  Somebody in the diabetes community had an issue with something.  Doing what any real community would do, people stepped up.  Would you expect anything different from somebody that created the You Can Do This Project?  Or awesome video editing from a person that puts her dedication to the diabetes community into the videos that she helps product? Read More

A Fresh Start on Life

Chris Stocker 4 Comments

This weekend I decided that it was time for a fresh start.  A fresh start on a new attitude towards life, diabetes, work, family, and well everything that is included in life.  On the diabetes side of things, I want a fresh start.  So, I deleted all of my data from all of my diabetes devices.  I cleared all the old stuff and am starting fresh.  I am also starting with a fresh new diet that actually includes eating breakfast, which I never have before. Read More