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Where Are You Obama?

Chris Stocker

Today’s post is going to very short and simple.  Today, a letter to President Barack Obama was published asking him to take a leading role in the UN NCD Summit in September of 2011.  This letter has over 80 signatures from people all over the diabetes community.  Below is a link to the slideshare version of the letter for you to easily share.

I encourage you to do the following with this letter:

  1. Post it on Twitter and anytime you see somebody else post it, Retweet it.
  2. Post it on your Facebook account and ask others to share it
  3. Share it with colleagues
  4. Share it with friends and family
  5. Print it and mail a copy or two yourself if you want
  6. E-mail it to your local representative and ask for their help in moving it up the chain
  7. E-mail your state reps and do the same
  8. E-mail it to the Diabetes Caucus
  9. Once you reach this step, go back to Step 1

And here is the link:

We ask President Obama to take a leading role in the UN NCD Summit, Sept. 2011 

 

Insulin Close Call

Chris Stocker

This weekend provided me with a close call.  I knew that I had to re-order my insulin soon, but it was a little sooner than what I had expected.  I normally re-order my insulin when I see that I have about 3 vials left.  I thought that I had 4 vials of insulin, so I felt awesome that I was going to re-order it even sooner than I usually did.  Well, I only had 1 vial left.  There was 4 boxes in the bag still, however, I forgot that I took the vials out and didn’t throw the box out because I was too lazy. Last time that is going to happen.

I am not worried too much anymore because the last time that I checked online it said that it was going to be shipping tomorrow (Tuesday, August 2), and since it normally ships overnight I should have it before Thursday.  I go through insulin fast, but not that fast.  I use about 150 – 180 units of insulin a day so a vial is only about 4-7 days, depending on how much I eat.  On Sunday I wasn’t exactly sure when it was going to ship, so I didn’t eat as much food for dinner and then I skipped out on dessert for Amanda’s brother birthday.  It wasn’t because I can’t eat ice cream, it’s because I CHOSE not to eat ice cream.

You may be wondering why you haven’t seen me around on Twitter or blogging a lot often.  I am going through some big time thought process over here.  I can’t really talk about it too much on here for several reasons, but it would be a huge, as the Big Brother contestants always say, game changer.  Stay tuned

 

Misconception of Diabetes

Chris Stocker 3 Comments

At the complex where my new office is located, there is a Yogurtland that just recently opened.  Since this place has opened, myself and a few co-workers, the Yogurt Crew, have frequented this place about 3 days a week.  When walking back from today’s yogurt visit the subject of me drinking so much soda was brought up.  My boss who is part of the crew was talking about how the amount of soda that I drink is not healthy, and that I could get myself to stop drinking it if I wanted to.  The only problem is, is that I don’t want to.  I said, “I have diabetes, I have bigger health problems than diet coke.”

The next part of the conversation was talking about how I can’t stand when people spread misconceptions about diabetes.  I mentioned how I can’t stand Dr. Oz and one of my life goals is to get his show off the air and his books, shows, radio segments all put to rest.  When asked why, I had a few examples, but basically just said that he spreads misconceptions about diabetes.  And that by controlling your diet you can cure diabetes.  I said that this statement is just 100% totally not true, however, part of the Yogurt crew mentioned that, this statement has some truth to it and there is information out there that can prove that diet can cure diabetes.  I mentioned that, I have type 1 diabetes, no matter what I do with my diet, my diabetes isn’t going anywhere.  Even with type 2 diabetes, a diet isn’t just going to fix things.

After a little explanation about the situation, I was able to educate them on this situation that they didn’t really know a lot about.  I also explained that type 1 and type 2 get grouped together and people think that if I just lost weight, I wouldn’t be diabetic anymore.  I am diabetic because I’m overweight idea.  This is one reason that people don’t see diabetes as such a brutal disease and that it doesn’t get the respect that other diseases have.  I’ve never heard someone say, “If you just exercise more and eat better your cancer will go away.”  This is one reason why diabetes doesn’t get the funding that it should.

This is something that is very important to me, and I’m sure it is with you all also.  Ronnie Gregory posted something today about diabetes being public.  My diabetes is very public.  One of the co-workers in the Yogurt Crew also today said to me, “I know Chris, you’re diabetic., during a conversation when I was talking about health related issues.  And I said, “exactly, I want everybody to know every day that I have diabetes.”  This is the only way that people are going to respect the disease.  Wear diabetes on your sleeve, don’t hide your diabetes, share your diabetes stories, share the bad stories, share the good stories, called yourself a diabetic, call yourself a person with diabetes, call yourself an asshole if you want, I don’t care.  But any way that the word of diabetes can be spread without the misconceptions, the better.

What are some of the reasons that you may not want your co-workers or people to know that you have diabetes?

Please comment.

How the International Diabetes Federation Gets It

Chris Stocker 1 Comment

Last month I wrote a follow up post to the Roche Social Media Summit about the International Diabetes Federation and how at that time I did not feel a deep connection with them and just didn’t know for sure if they got it.  Well guess what?  I stand here today to say…. they do.  And they get it pretty damn good.  I think that Isabella Patton has done an incredibly job taking what we told her to heart and really putting it to work.



I have had more communication with the IDF in the last month than I did the first 7 years of me having diabetes.  I have been able to work with them on the O is for Outrage campaign, use their resource to meet with local representatives and be involved in the planning process of some events.  This is what makes it so exciting to be a part of this.  A month ago I felt a disconnect, now I feel connected.  If this can be done with the IDF then it can be done with JDRF, ADA, DRI, local governments, HCP’s, etc.

I now want to work more with the IDF.  I want to be involved in all of their projects.  I want to fly across the world and spread the message of the IDF.  I really wanted to feel this way about the IDF, so thank you.  Thank you for allowing me to feel this way.

Finally, thank you for changing my mind about the IDF.

Express Scripts and Medco Acquisition

Chris Stocker 2 Comments

Recently, Express Scripts looked to acquire Medco, which is still pending approval to my knowledge, but who knows.  This is my issue with this.  I have Medco, at least right now.  It seems that every year I have a new mail order pharmacy, and every year I get nervous about how easy or hard it is going to be to get my supplies.  Is there going to be an issue, do they have the strips that I use as a tier 1 or a tier 3.  So, now I haven’t switched insurance companies or supplier, but if this acquisition goes through then I will be using Express Scripts.  Typically mergers or acquisitions of large companies like this, not many things do change, but there will be some executive level decisions that could make some big differences.  For example, Freestyle Lite strips may be considered tier 3 and cost 5 times the amount of a tier 1.

Mergers and acquisitions do not always go easy, I’ve seen some bad ones in the past,but let’s just hope that this one goes fine.  I’ve never used Express Scripts before, so my question is to all of you, how have they been in the past?  Any issues?  Do they favor one specific brand over the other?

I look forward to all of your answers and feedbacks….that’s what the DOC is all about 🙂

Have a great week everybody

Offline Diabetes Initiatives

Chris Stocker

I have been doing a lot of work “offline” the past week.  This has made me extremely tired when I finally get home, and I haven’t been keeping up with the blog lately.  I am working to get some programs off the ground here in south Florida, but it’s not very easy.  I have scheduled a few face to face meetings with some local reps for next month, so I am extremely excited about that.  It is very tough to meet with them because they can typically only meeting during 9-5 during the weekdays and I work 45 minutes from my house, so I can’t really make the times they are always suggesting.

My parents are coming back down here to visit again in September, so I thought that would be a great time to take the Diabetes Research Institute tour with them and my girlfriend.  I’m sure my parents will find it very exciting.  They are not very involved with my diabetes because I was 19 when I was diagnosed and I pretty much took control of it myself and didn’t rely on them for help with it.  So I see this as a great opportunity for them to learn a little more about diabetes.

By the way, I’ve lost 6 pounds in 2 weeks, and that was with NO exercise, just changing portions that I eat.Have a great day everybody.

Life of a Diabetic Update

Chris Stocker

It’s been over a week since my last post and I really did not want to go this long without posting anymore, but I guess it just happened, but what are you going to do.  My last several posts have been about the Roche Social Media Summit, but this post is going to be just a simple post about what has been going on in my life lately.  Let’s start with the weight issue.  I haven’t lost any weight lately.  I have been eating a little healthier again and eating better at lunch time than I have been.  My endo appointment is approaching and I know that she is going to recommend that I go on Symlin to help me lose weight.  I spoke with George and Scott briefly at the summit about Symlin and some pro’s and con’s so if that suggestion is brought up to me by her again, then I will have to think a little more deeply into that route.

The next area is my blood sugars.  I have been going through about a month long period that my normal level is about 225.  I am not getting my sugar under 200 very often, so I am trying to figure out exactly what is going on.  I think that it is because my portion control was….well, way out of control recently.  Now that my portion control is getting better again, my sugar levels are getting better again too.  I know that my A1C is going to be high this month, but that gives me something to work towards and a goal to accomplish.

Other than that, there is not a whole lot going on.  Work has been incredibly busy, my dog is going great, my girlfriend is doing great, so life is just great. Hopefully tomorrow I will have something a little more exciting for you to read, but we will see.

Building Relationships with the DOC

Chris Stocker 5 Comments

We are winding down on the reviews of the Roche Social Media Summit, then it’s back to the boring Life of a Diabetic blog posts.  This leads me into a discussion that I had with Scott King at the summit party on Thursday night.  He asked where I came up with the name The Life of a Diabetic.  I explained that I wanted to write a blog to show people what a normal life with diabetes is like.  It is just like your life except I have a few extra things to do.  The Life of a Diabetic is not a very exciting life.  This was just one conversation among many that I had at the summit.  That’s where the title comes into play for this post, Relationship building with the DOC.

I had spoken to most of the attendees on Twitter before but had only met a few.  This was not just a time to learn and speak to companies about social media, but for us diabetics to get to know each other better.  What I was the most amazed with is that everybody was pretty much exactly what I thought they would be.  For some reason though, I didn’t know Scott Johnson was so damn tall, now all this basketball playing makes sense.  It’s also great to see and hear Kerri’s funny ass personality in person rather via tweets and posts.

It is events like this that bring people together with a common cause and that’s when things can get scary for the people and things on the other side of the cause because ideas start happening, plans start coming together, action starts taking place.  You are also building friendships with these people.  I will now have memories for the rest of my life from hanging out on the rooftop Hard Rock bar, or watching George kick some serious karaoke ass, and watching Bernard rock out on the guitar of some Guitar Hero.

Building relationships with members of the DOC is an extremely important factor in the movement to get more funding for a cure or advocacy or anything else that we are trying to accomplish as a group.  I feel more confident calling these people my friends and not just “some people I communicate with on twitter.”  I’m excited to schedule some meetups with people because I love to travel and I want to come see some of ya’ll more frequently than just once a year.  Midwest and West Coast, I’m mainly talking to you!

How have you been able to take the relationships that you started online and take them offline and continue to build them. I will be writing another post shortly about the idea of taking the “O” out of DOC and making us just a diabetes community and not just online.  I think we are close to it and some of us have done this already.

Until then, I’d like to hear your diabetes relationship stories.

 

Dr. Polonsky and a Glucose Getaway

Chris Stocker 1 Comment

We are almost done with my reviews of the Roche Social Media Summit.  If anything at all, these have been some of the longest posts that I have ever written.  I hope you have all enjoyed the posts about Jeffrey Brewer, IDF, and Dan Kane.  Let’s get into the next.

I had never heard Dr. Polonsky speak before so I was very interested in this session because I have heard amazing things and I sensed how excited everybody was when they were told that he would be speaking the last session of the summit.  Let me give a little bit of a background of myself and psychological side when it comes to diabetes.  I have diabetes.  I was diagnosed at 19, so I knew a whole other life before this and it totally changed.  So I had two options, bitch and complain about it and let it get me upset or accept it and move forward and continue to live life to the fullest and not let it get in my way.  I chose option two.  I know most of us have chosen option two, but still get down from time to time, and that is fine.  And for those situations, Dr. Polonsky would be an amazing help to me if I was in that situation.  Fortunately, I have never let diabetes get me down, or make me upset, or not do something because I had diabetes.

One of the subjects that Dr. Polonsky was talking about was the idea of a glucose getaway.  Getting away from your diabetes.  I have diabetes, so how could I get away from it?  Why do I need to get away from it?  It’s a disease I have, it’s going to be with me, so why try and fool myself?  I think this is the biggest thing to learn in order to not get so upset about diabetes.  Don’t look at it as needing a getaway from it.  It’s your life, live it to your fullest.

Before I continue, I want to stress that I am not trying to sound harsh here or downplay depression that comes from diabetes and think negatively of those that are affected by it, by no means do I mean any of those things.  I am actually trying to help.  Help you see another side of it, and how I am able to handle situations and what helps me not get affected by this.  I get more upset when Michael Vick throws an interception or the Eagles fumble, than I do when I have a blood sugar of 450 during the middle of the game.

I was impressed with Dr. Polonsky’s method of speaking and is humor.  He really knew how to work a crowd and even inserted a few funny pictures and a great viral video from YouTube.  The best part of the Dr. Polonsky sessions was how it turned into a support group.  Other attendee’s were opening up about their issues and how they get down at times, and everybody was there to lift them back up, and also were given hugs from Cherise, what an amazing human being.  At times it was making me think, maybe I’m an outcast because I don’t let these things affect me.  I don’t care if I have a high blood sugar, I just hit a few buttons on my pump and fix it.  I don’t care that if I go to the beach, I’ll disconnect my pump or even take out my infusion set and just go pumpless for a while without even thinking about it.  When I’m done, I’ll re-connect bolus and I’m right back to normal. 60*24*365 = 525,600.  That is how many minutes are in a year. So, when my blood sugar is high and it comes down within an hour and let’s say that happens for one hour everyday of the year, that is only 4%….4 freaking percent!  With diabetes, it is very important to see the larger picture, and not criticize yourself for something.  Even if it was your fault, who the f*ck cares!  Get over it and move on to the next one.

Like I said, this is just how I handle things.  Everybody is different and everybody handles things differently, and I don’t think that there is just one right way to do something.  Whatever way works for you is the best way in my eyes.  So, I hope that I didn’t upset too many people, and if I did, please let me know, because I truly didn’t mean to.

Live on and don’t let so many things upset you. Be happy!

 

Dan Kane the VP Marketing of Roche at Summit

Chris Stocker 4 Comments

So far I have gone out of order of events from the summit, by talking about the International Diabetes Federation and their O is for Outrage campaign and then the lunch time talk by Jeffrey Brewer from JDRF.  Let’s go back to the future. The first part of the Roche Social Media Summit two weeks ago was a 140 character introduction of all the attendees.  I didn’t remember what I wrote, so I was a little nervous.  Most people seemed to guess everybody’s, so it was a cool introduction.  The first speaker was going to be an introduction from Dan Kane, VP Marketing for Roche.  Usually the first thing that you think of when it comes to a VP of marketing is, “this guy is going to be a smooth talker to take my money somehow.”  Dan Kane was a smooth talker, but he also seems genuine and understood the importance of social media.

As some of you know, one aspect of my consulting business is social media management, and getting companies to understand the meaning of Social ROI and that it isn’t about a bottom line number.  Dan Kane seemed to get this fact, or at least sounded like he understood it.  Dan used his speaking time to relate this summit to a first date and a new relationship.  When you first Don't Try and Kiss Me Dan Kanemeet somebody, you don’t just ask for a kiss right away, you slowly build somewhat of a relationship and let the kiss happen naturally.  I believe that I tweeted during the actual #dsummit itself, “flashbacks of the birds and bees conversation my father gave to me as a child”, or something of that affect.

One quote that stood out to me the most was when said, “In order for us to be a better company, we have to know you better.”  At that exact moment I said, “This guy gets it”.  Dan Kane understood the fact that Social ROI is not measured the same way as most ROI is.  Social ROI is all about engagement.  Responding and reacting to the DOC, sharing DOC stories, and not just pushing your own information and your own agenda.

I was impressed with Dan Kane and what he had to say.  He made me feel like he really meant what he was saying and trust is key in the beginning of a relationship, especially when a kiss is needed!

Up next tomorrow is about the Dr. Polonsky speech.  I think that I may disagree with a lot of people on this term.  He seems like a great guy, but for me, his speech almost put me to sleep, and I will explain more tomorrow.