Monday, May 12, 2014

Change the World


Click for the Change the World - Monday 5/12 Link List.

Let’s kick off Diabetes Blog Week by talking about the diabetes causes and issues that really get us fired up. Are you passionate about 504 plans and school safety? Do diabetes misconceptions irk you? Do you fight for CGM coverage for Medicare patients, SDP funding, or test strip accuracy? Do you work hard at creating diabetes connections and bringing support? Whether or not you “formally” advocate for any cause, share the issues that are important to you. (Thanks go out to Kim of Texting my Pancreas for inspiring this topic.)
---

The things you are passionate about are not random,
They are your calling.
---Fabienne Fredrickson

If we are talking about true, belly-burning passion, my three major advocacy issues are:

1) Connecting People

- to others online
- to others in person
- to those with a similar story
- to those with advice to share
- to sites with reliable health info
- to information about their rights
- to the needs of the community beyond their immediate struggle

2) Fighting for Access

- to the people making decisions that affect our health outcomes based on their bottom line
- to accurate test strips we can trust
- to tools that help me fine-tune my care
- to insulin for 100% of the people who cannot afford this basic life support
- to insurance reimbursement
- to insurance coverage for the strips and medication and devices we need
- to diabetes education with certified diabetes educators for all people with diabetes

3) Pregnancy and Diabetes

- that all women feel supported by their families and physicians if they desire to become a mother
- that providers stop with the scare tactics
- that women are kinder to themselves if something does go wrong in pregnancy or if their child later develops an autoimmune disease
- that women understand how to safely lower A1c and how their hormones will impact their insulin dosing
- that women know which communities and resources are available to them, whether they are trying, failing, falling, rising, beginning, in full swing, or walking away

I pick my battles as an advocate, but these are the battlefields where you can usually find me with my armor on.

I will see you on the front lines, friends.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried allowed.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
---from Invictus by William Ernest Henley

3 comments:

  1. To access issues, I would add getting the LAW changed to allow Medicare to cover CGMs. I have hypoglycemia unawareness and live alone, so there is no one to inject me with glucagon or call 911. Pretty scary, and the bureacrats don't seem to give a damn -- they are more concerned with the bottom line than with the need to protect our lives.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Natalie, that issue is there. It's linked under the word "devices."

      Delete
  2. Thanks for sharing your list, and yes, I will see you on the front lines!

    ReplyDelete