Welcome to the 7th year of Diabetes Blog Week. This is my 3rd time participating and I swore I wasn’t going to do it again this year. Why? Because I get totally burned out by writing blogposts every day and trying to read the posts of 100+ participants. Somehow I am incapable of staying low-key during the week and always overdo it. So why am I here? Because Diabetes Blog Week links me to voices of diabetes from all over the world. At the end of the week I will feel exhilarated after meeting new bloggers and catching up with those whom I already “know”. I’ll learn more about myself and my diabetes as I tackle the topic list. On Friday I will be proud that once again I have survived Diabetes Blog Week! As always, thanks to Karen Graffeo of Bitter-Sweet™ for organizing everything.

Today’s Topic:  Lets kick off the week by talking about why we are here, in the diabetes blog space. What is the most important diabetes awareness message to you? Why is that message important for you, and what are you trying to accomplish by sharing it on your blog?

When I started my blog in 2013, I wrote:

“The DOC (Diabetes Online Community) has become a family to me…. I think there is room for my voice in the DOC and I hope that I can help and inspire others  in the way that I have been helped and inspired by others…. I hope to use my blog to chronicle my journey through life with diabetes. Many of my posts will be reflections on the last 36 years as well as my opinions on current issues.”

That is typical blah for mission statements and I could easily write the same words again today. The main change is that it’s now been almost 40 years of diabetes.

I wrote one sentence in my first blogpost that seemed innocent at the time. It has morphed into one of the main reasons I continue to blog.

“The medical system in the United States is changing and I really wonder what the next years will bring for those of us with diabetes.”

Talk about the understatement of the year. I predicted that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would bring me lower premiums and worse coverage. Wrong! I still have good coverage for diabetes expenses, but my premiums have almost doubled and they were expensive to begin with. Many DOC friends have fared far worse with huge increases in premiums and deductibles along with difficulty obtaining needed supplies and medications. Insulin prices have soared and for each insurance company mandating Humalog, there is another one requiring Novolog. The recent UnitedHealthCare mandate for Medtronic pumps is symptomatic of a broken healthcare system that increasingly devalues patients and results in huge profits for insurance companies, pharmaceutical/durable medical companies, and middleman wholesalers.

I also mentioned Medicare in my first blogpost:

“And before I know it, I will be on Medicare with a new set of rules that will save me lots of money in some areas, but will try to dictate that I live with 3 test strips a day and throw away my CGM because it is not proven technology.”

I am now counting down the months until Medicare. I am proud of my gray hair and feel strongly that I would like Test Guess and Go to become an information and advocacy resource for seniors with Type 1 diabetes. CGM coverage is one of the most visible battles but it may be just the tip of the iceberg with programs like Competitive Bidding threatening choice and access to needed supplies.

In three years of blogging I have been learning how to advocate. I know that I am a better writer than speaker. I know that I prefer one-on-ones to larger advocacy forums, but I am trying to grow. Regardless of where my senior years take me, Type 1 diabetes will be there and there is no reason to fight that. I don’t know how long I will continue to blog, but I’m not ready to quit yet.

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To read other Diabetes Blog Week posts on this topic, click here.