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Goals Set for September

Chris Stocker 1 Comment

Today is September 1 and I can’t believe it.  I know that I totally missed the ball and did not do anything for diabetes art day.  If it doesn’t contain doing something in Photoshop then I can’t do art.  I should have had my girlfriend do something for it to express her feelings through art.  September is going to be a big month for me, hopefully.  I have set a lot of goals for this month and I want to do my best to reach them.  I did not set any that are out of this world, so they are all pretty achievable.

Since I am setting goals, one of them is going to be to blog every day.  I do not see blogging as a hassle or something that I have to do, it is something that I love to do.  If what I’m writing about can help one person, then I feel that I have done something good for the day.  Blogging also gives me a sense of normalcy.  If I am going to be working out everyday and eating healthy, and getting myself into a normal routine, then when things happen that throw me off of that routine, it screws it all up for a long time and it is tough for me to get back into things.  That is definitely a run on sentence, so if you’re a Grammer teacher, sorry.

Well, my Macbook is giving me problems and I have to restart, so enough with this post.

Have a great post.

Local Greater Palm Beach County JDRF Events

Chris Stocker

I am beginning to get my life back in order after the last couple of months have jsut been so hectic with moving, getting a new job, vacation, buying a new car, blah blah blah.  One of the things that is on my list is working with my local JDRF chapter and begin working on some projects for Type 1 adults because a lot of the things that they put on are for kids and families of children with diabetes, but to reach a larger base I think reaching out to the adults is key.  Also, a quick heads up on another project that I am working on involves all your #bgnow and twitter and Facebook updates.

So, now here is a monthly update on things that are going on in this area:

  • Monday August 26, 2010 – Montblank Boutique Event
  • September 11, 2010 – Charity Golf Classic at Boca Raton Country Club
  • September 10-12, 2010 – Fresh Market Sidewalk Sale
  • Saturday October 9, 2010 – Adult Scavenger Hunt
  • October 23, 2010 – Boynton Beach Fire Rescue Golf Tournament

For more event information or to volunteer for any of these events go to their website.

Diabetes at a Disadvantage

Chris Stocker

Diabetes is at a disadvantage and there is one large reason why.  Bad information!  How many times do you hear people talk about diabetes cures and just lose weight and you will lose your diabetes.  How about you stop breathing and you won’t lose your life?  There were some tweets the other day from some “askdroz” or something of that sort that really pissed me off, and I know it was pissing off a lot of you as well.  Do I think it was anybody that had something to do with Dr. Oz, no I don’t.  I think it was one of those people that just create a fake twitter handle and act like a  celebrity, by the way, those people should get a life!

But this information is being spread, and there is a lot of bad information out there.  So from now on, if you hear or see any bad information about diabetes, do not hesitate to correct that person.  Even if it is the CEO of your company, tell them the truth about diabetes.

Enough said, have a great day!

Exercise or Die?

Chris Stocker 2 Comments

I haven’t been to the endo in almost 5 months.  That is a really long time for me because for the last year I had been going once every 4-6 weeks.  I had an appointment scheduled in July, but I was on vacation, and didn’t have a chance to reschedule it.  The other day I received a phone call from my endo directly stating that I needed to come in and see her because she was going on maternity leave.  How many times do you get a phone call from the actual doctor themselves requesting that you come in?  If that is not a doctor caring about her patients then I don’t know what is.

My endo is a type 1 pumper herself, so I’m not sure that I can get much luckier than that.  After my last appointment with her, we left it as me must having to lose weight and cutting back on my caffeine intake.  The caffeine has been cut back, unfortunately, my weight has not gone down at all.  She said that if I can’t cut the weight down myself then I would have to go on Symlin.  I do not want to go on Symlin because I don’t want to feel nasueas.  I know there are advantages of it, but I don’t like feeling sick.

I know I can lose weight by myself, but I just haven’t been very motivated lately.  I am now.  I have access to a gym again, and now there is no excuses.  For several months I had no gym to work out at, and I always made excuses when it came to running or walking outside.  No more excuses.  It is all very simple when you think about it. Be lazy and live a shorter life, or exercise and live a healthier longer life.  Seems like a no thought decision to me.

The Life of a Diabetic Weekend Recap # 6

Chris Stocker

It’s Monday and that means another recap of The Life of a Diabetic. I have not been posting very often, and it is mainly because of my new job and other things going on.  I have been extremely busy, but that is no excuse because I know all of you are busy also and that doesn’t stop you all from posting.  I have made a dedication to myself that I will continue to post on a daily basis.  Anyway, here is my exciting weekend.

Friday after work, we had a company happy hour in north Miami, so I headed down there for a little bit.  It was really fun, because I was able to talk to people that I haven’t had a chance to speak to often at the office.  The Eagles were playing at 8 on Friday so I stayed a little later in order to watch some of the game.  After that, I did nothing at all and it was very relaxing.

Saturday I had planned to go to the farmer’s marketing and Bass Pro Shop.  I headed down to a Penn-Dutch farmers market and bought a lot of veggies and the meats there were very cheap so I stocked up.  I just bought a new car two weeks ago, so I am on a very strict budget right now and I plan on cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day for 30 days straight.  It is going to be tough, but it is my goal and I am going to do anything I can to accomplish that.  After the farmer’s market, I had to swing by Bass Pro Shop to pick up some new fishing line and some hooks and lures.  I ended the afternoon with some laundry and a movie at night.  I watched “The Crazies” and it was surpisingly good.  I didn’t expect it to be very good, but it scared the hell out of me for sure.

Sunday was even more lazy than the other days.  I didn’t wake up until about 12, which felt so damn good because I never get to sleep in.  By the time I actually got out of bed it was around 2:30.  I finished up some laundry and ate some leftovers for lunch and dinner and then that was it.

My weekend was very relaxing and I hadn’t had one like that for a really long time, so I enjoyed it a lot.

Have a great week everybody.

Stressed the Eff Out!

Chris Stocker 1 Comment

It has been such a long time since my last endo or CDE visit. I was supposed to have one on July 25th, but I was on vacation and also, I never received a call from the doctor’s office so it makes me wonder if I even had an appointment anyway? My endo is one of the top in the area so it took me 6 months to initially get in and since she hasn’t seen me in a long time, I may be back on that waiting list again. There was even scarier news that happened yesterday.

I received a letter from CobraServ who is a company that my COBRA continuing coverage was being processed through stating that my account with them had been terminated on June 30, 2010, but the letter was dated July 25, 2010. That doesn’t make sense that it would come 30 days later because there is the whole 63 days of continuing coverage issue. Well, wouldn’t you think that I would receive a letter or e-mail from my former employer stating that they switched companies to handle this stuff? Of course not. They are so incompetent that I wouldn’t expect anything more from them anyway. If you can’t trust them with the health insurance of a 3 year employee, would you really trust them to deliver on your 90 day supply? Just saying.

Moving on. I haven’t heard back from the new company yet, but I only sent an e-mail so I will have to give a call to them later on. I have been extremely stressed these last few days. Thursday night I test drove a 2010 Hyundai Elantra and fell in love with it, especially the new design and extended warranty. Saturday I went in to get all the paperwork done and after 4 hours on Saturday I had to come back Sunday to finalize the paperwork. I left the lot on Sunday with the new car and leaving my trade in as long as I came back on Monday with proof of residence, easy enough right? Absolutely not. I live in a house, I get my mail at a UPS Store. So since all my bank statements are going to a UPS box, that doesn’t prove that I live where I say I live and the bank doesn’t want to give the loan out because of that. Are you serious?

So, they give you the car and then a day later they say….oops, we may need to take it back, are you kidding me? They want 3 months of bank statements going to where I live, why? Wouldn’t you rather prefer that my most recent statement is to the residential address? It is just so damn frustrating, so wish me luck and keep your fingers crossed that this small little technicality doesn’t screw up getting a new car. A bank statement going to a UPS store location, that I pay for on a monthly basis as opposed to the envelope going to my residence, how can that determine whether or not you get a loan?

Sorry For Not Being Here

Chris Stocker 2 Comments

I want to say sorry for not being here and not blogging or reading or tweeting or anything at all for that matter. As you may know I went on a vacation two weeks ago and I started a new job two weeks before that. Last night was hectic anf crazy trying to catch up at work. So bad that I wasn’t even able to coach my little league football team at all last week. We have practice again tonight anf I can’t attend because I have to take care of paperwork issues for something else. That something else is a new car.

So I have a lot going on now but I will be getting back to blogging because it really is one of my best stress relievers. Also, reading tweets and communicating online is great. If you have emailed me or sent me messages over the past few weeks dont hate me just understand I have had a lot going on recently so I will be getting back to all of you this week.

For now have a great day.

Recap of Guest Post Week

Chris Stocker

Last week I was on vacation all week.  I went to a McDonald’s the first morning I was there to access the free wi-fi and that was the last time I connected to the internet.  I went on my phone every so often when I was bored and was waiting for people to get ready to go somewhere, but that is about it.  I don’t think that my automatic tweet was set up so I wanted to re-post all of the guest posts from week.

Monday – Cara, Country Girl Diabetic

Tuesday – Crystal, Randomly CapitalizeD

Wednesday – Christopher, A Consequence of Hypoglycemia

Thursday – Sarah Jane, Sarahndipity

Friday – Diabetic Parents

Also, last Thursday I had a guest post on Diabetes Mine.

Enjoy reading

Guest Post – Diabetic Parents

Chris Stocker

Today’s guest post is from Diabetic Parents.

Parenting for us is full time job. So is diabetes. But luckily diabetes doesn’t ever outshine some of the best moments we’ve had as parents. From their first smiles to the silly things they do and say now that their older.

But perhaps the best moment in parenting is watching them grow and learn. As a parent you get the opportunity to be an active participant and an unfortunate bystander to their learning and growth.

It’s hard to watch them learn by trial and error. I remember the times when as babies they would spend hours…even days trying to learn to roll over, crawl, or walk. The frustrated look on their faces just wanted to make you pick them up and hold them close. (Which we will admit to caving in and doing on occasion). You wanted to do everything for that child….but couldn’t. They had to learn this on their own. And it was hard to be the bystander that couldn’t help. They had to do it on their own. As they get older it only gets more difficult to watch them try to tackle a new hobby, get hurt by a good friend, or struggle in school.

But even those moments can’t be tainted by the great moments of parenting. As I write this my labrador Sadie and my son are curled up at the end of my bed watching cartoons. My daughter and I went to watch our first “girls only” movie together. The preschool graduations, and the successful performance of that first school play. The morning hugs and kisses, and the bedtime giggles as we talk about our day when we tuck them in at night. The Sunday morning wrestling matches between Dad and son, and the quiet talks between daughter and Mom. These moments can’t be tainted by a hard day at work or nasty blood sugars.

Parenting is the one job that you wouldn’t want to ever give up or trade. We are so grateful for those precious moments that make our day worth it. I couldn’t imagine a more harder but more life changing job. We can’t imagine our lives without our two children. It’s impossible now that we’ve had them to imagine life without them. We thank our children all the time for the lessons they are teaching us. And we in turn hopefully are teaching them.

Scott and Traci are the owners of www.DiabeticParents.org and their blog http://blog.diabeticparents.org. Scott has had Type 1 diabetes for 28 years (since the age of 4). Scott and Traci have been married for 9 years and have two children. And two dogs who think they are children. They write from their seperate and combined experiences on how diabetes affects them as a person, a spouse, and as a family. You can read more about them on their blog and find more resources available for couples and families with diabetes on their website.