I just got home from my endo appointment about 20 minutes ago, and I wanted to write this blog post while everything was still fresh in my mind. First, let me mention what some of my thoughts were going into this appointment. I knew my A1C was going to be high, actually, probably the highest it’s been since being diagnosed. Why did I think this? Because my meter results over the last three months say so. I also knew that I did not wear my Dexcom at all during the last 60 days, so I knew that was going to be a point of discussion. Finally, I did not reach my goal for my weight loss. Now, onto what happened. Read More
Interview with Christopher Snider
I conducted this interview with Chris about a month and a half ago. Due to re-design issues and vacations, I am finally posting the interview. The basis of this interview is to get a more “behind the diabetes” view of people and find out what they do for a living or what they enjoy other than blogging and advocating for diabetes. We all have things that we do that are not just based on the DOC things we do, so I figured, why not start asking people what those other interests are. Read More
Still Re-Designing and Stuff
So, the site is still being re-designed. There were some issues with the design that pushed back the timeline and it is not ready to go. I am working out all of the kinks and it should be good to go by August 1, fingers crossed. In the meantime, I will still be posting.
I just came back from vacation on Saturday night, so I finally feel recharged and re-energized and motivated. I love how vacations make me feel like that. The bad part is that the feeling sometimes leaves pretty quickly, so I guess I just need more vacations. Read More
Down to the Last Set
It all came down to the last set. No, I am not talking about Wimbledon, even though watching Nadal getting upset was an exciting match to watch. I am talking about infusion sets. I had mentioned previously that I was getting very low on infusion sets. I had a box of infusion sets sitting in my diabetes storage bin, so when I went to open it, it was empty. This is why being lazy is not a good idea. I opened the box and dumped all the infusion sets out, like I usually do, except I didn’t take the 2 seconds to throw it away, but just put the box right back into the storage bin. At this point, there were two left. Read More
I’m Here but not There
This past month or so has been totally hectic and crazy. Whenever I feel like I have some time to start working on a few diabetes projects or catch up on some writing, something else comes up. I can’t complain because the busier my business gets, the better off I am. I have a vacation coming up in the next two weeks, so I plan on just relaxing, unhooking for about a week and get some well deserved rest from these inter-webs. I feel totally out of the loop over the past couple of months, so this weekend while I relax by the pool, I will be catching up on all the blog posts and conversations that have been going on.
I look forward to catching up on what’s going on in everybody’s life and happenings. If you haven’t noticed, the blog design is not finished like I expected it to be, but it should be by the end of the month. When it is up and fully running again, I have some pretty cool things planned for it. A lot of interviews planned to go live, guest posts and some more video blogging.
Take care ya’ll.
The Life of a Diabetic is Under Construction
I am in the process of re-designing the blog. I am testing out different themes and layouts and did not want to use a dev site, so I am doing it on the live site. Check back next week for a full, complete, new looking site.
Interview with Jerry Stoner – Winning Agency from The Pitch
Two Sunday’s ago, JDRF was the featured company that two agencies were to create pitches for on the AMC show, “The Pitch”. The winning ad agency was Bozell. I was able to have the opportunity to ask Jerry Stoner, their executive creative director, a few questions about the show and the ads they pitched. For more information about the show, you can check out The Pitch at AMC.
For now, let’s get on with the questions. Read More
Wish Upon a Star – DSMA Blog Carnival
The month of May’s DSMA Blog Carnival (I know, I am posting this on June 1…oops), is about filling in the blanks. The question posed was, “I wish my insurance paid for <blank> because <blank>. So here were go, I will try to fill in the blanks.
I have not had the disappointment yet of an insurance company not covering something that I needed to be covered so this is a little more difficult for me to fill in the blanks. Rather then naming something I wish they would cover, I will speak about something I wish that they covered differently. Read More
Thank You to the Soda Machine from Outer Space
I have written several times on my blog about my disgust with restaurants and their limited drink choices for me. When I go to dinner and everybody else has multiple options for something to drink, mine was always water, diet Coke / Pepsi, or unsweetened iced tea. Read More
Interview with Chelcie Rice – Diabetic Comedian
I recently had a chance to interview Chelcie Rice, a type 1 comedian. You may know him on Twitter as @ChelcieRice (Diabetic Comedian). Please take a chance to read on and learn more about Chelcie and his diabetes. If you have any additional questions that you would like to ask him, please leave a comment and I will make sure that we get an answer for you. Here we go…
For those that may not know who you are, please give us a quick introduction of who you are and what you do.
Chelcie Rice, Originally from Toccoa, GA (you’ll have to Google it) T1 diabetic. Been doing stand up comedy for about 12 years now.
When were you diagnosed with diabetes?
When I was 25
What were some of your first reactions when you were diagnosed?
I honestly didn’t know anything about diabetes. I didn’t even know my grandmother was diabetic until I was diagnosed. So I can’t say I knew how to feel. I had to learn that I really needed to manage my diabetes and at that time in my life I wasn’t quite ready.
Do you still hold some of those same feelings now?
I still get angry sometimes but I think I’m a lot smarter now that I used to be. Mostly because of the complications I have to deal with.
So, you are known as the “Diabetic Comedian”, how do you incorporate diabetes into your standup?
I only use that title on Twitter. Cause if I walked into a club with that tag I would never get any work! I write jokes about my own personal experiences with my condition. Many comedians make jokes about certain diseases without really knowing anything about it. By telling more personal stories, it kinda’ helps people who know nothing about diabetes gain more knowledge even when its based in humor.
Do you feel that using diabetes humor helps you deal with the stress of living with diabetes?
For me yes. I can’t say that every diabetic should use humor but it works for me and some others. I think every diabetic should find something to help them cope whether its humor, sports whatever.
Have you ever had to deal with a low blood sugar while on stage? If so, how did you deal with it?
It has happened before and it opened my eyes to how ignorant people are to the condition. Sometimes I have to go to the bar and ask for a glass of juice and have to explain why its an emergency. Then I get that blank stare from the bartender. People just have no clue!
Other than being a funny dude and managing diabetes, what other hobbies do you have?
I’m a bit of a comic book geek. I’ve been collecting since the late 80s. Around the time of the first Batman movie. I collect books for whatever reason along with records and I play drums.
In what ways do you use your comedy to help spread diabetes awareness / advocacy?
I’m working on a project called Sugar Free Comedy. Basically its been comedy shows to raise funds for diabetes research. I recently performed in Salt Lake City for the Diabetes Mixer and I had a blast!! I love my new friends in Utah!
Where can people hear / see come of your standup / comedy online?
You can search my name on Youtube and Rooftopcomedy.com
Where can people find you?
facebook.com/comedianchelcie, twitter.com/chelcierice
Any last thoughts or comments you would like to share with the diabetes community?
There’s a lot of negativity flying around the DOC and I think we need to kinda’ check our attitudes. We need to keep educating those that don’t get it and not let our disagreements keep us from helping each other. I’m not a “warm fuzzys” kind of guy so lets just keep the support going and help each other.
Leave any questions that you may have for Chelcie in the comments or send him a quick shout on Twitter or Facebook.
Take care.