Check it out! I was featured on http://www.decadeofdiscovery.org/featured-stories/blogger-spotlight-dave-hennesey-of-the-diabetic-camper/
I cut and pasted the article below but make sure you visit the link above and tell them how much you enjoyed reading my story.Blogger Spotlight: Dave Hennesey of “The Diabetic Camper”
- By: Decade of Discovery
- May 23rd, 2013
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Chances are, when most of us hear the word ‘camping’, we don’t immediately associate it with diabetes. But, why shouldn’t we? Dave Hennesey is the author of The Diabetic Camper, and he’s trying to add some variety to the diabetes blogosphere by combining his Type 1 diagnosis with one of his favorite activities—camping. Dave shares helpful tidbits of camping advice, interesting products to use in the wilderness, and his general perspective on how camping can apply to your diabetes philosophy. We asked Dave a few questions about his blog and his unique take on tackling diabetes—and here’s what he had to say:
1. How did you get started with your blog?
My blog started in a couple of different ways that converged into making me “The Diabetic Camper.” First I read Kerri Sparling’s SixUntilMe because I liked how she wrote. Then I realized […] there were no diabetes related camping blogs. There were all sorts of running with diabetes, cycling with diabetes, people with diabetes, and parents with diabetic children blogs but no pure outdoor go pee on a tree with your diabetes focused blogs. That is when I looked into blogging.
2. Why do you blog about diabetes?
I blog about diabetes because it is simple for me to write about my life and since I am a diabetic the two go hand in hand. Throw in my 25 years of camping with diabetes, working at scout camps, doing high adventures with diabetes and all of this added up to post after post of things I have done or learned over the years to deal with my diabetes in the wilderness.
3. Camping and diabetes are an interesting mix. What do you hope people take away from your blog?
My main focus it to teach people that even though they are not “outdoorsy” like me or anything, they will encounter some sort of “oh my” moment where diabetes goes wrong and you have to think outside the insulin vial to come up with a way to survive the situation. I want to turn people’s MacGyver [instincts] on in these situations. They might be on a plane and they have a delay and their pump has issues, or they might be low at a train station, but the one thing we all have to do in these “oh my” situations is find a way to get out alive and that is what my blog is all about. Knowing simple things to carry in your diabetes purse to solve life’s diabetes problems or even what gear is good or bad to take on trips.
4. What lessons have you learned from your journey with diabetes?
The biggest lesson I have learned from my journey is that all machines are meant to [break], so have a “manual” backup for everything. Insulin pumps go bad, meters quit on you, and even CGM’s fail but what we all seem to forget is that long ago like 20 years ago we lived without that stuff and having a vial of long acting insulin and a needle tucked away on a trip can save your life. Having a bottle [of] old school visual test strips can get you out of a ski trip that was -12 degrees and your meter only works down to 32 degrees. Have a plan for everything that can go wrong, or a way out for all other situations. That is the biggest thing I have learned and probably why I love to camp so much. Camping brings you to the basics of living with diabetes. It is just you and your disease out in the wilderness. Maybe you have cell service, maybe you have electricity but you are outside [without] all the distractions and you get to feel life at its most simple point, and it allows you to just be diabetic.
5. How does your diagnosis influence your everyday life?
Diabetes affects anything and everything in my life. If diabetes does not affect a part of your life then you are overlooking something. I once had a doctor when I was a young teenager that told me if I didn’t think about my diabetes at least seven times a day I was overlooking something. I look back now and realize that seven times a day should be more like seven times an hour every hour or you are overlooking something. My good friend Vic likes one of my patented [sayings]:” being more diabetic” and it took me probably half a year to get him to understand what “being more diabetic” was. It is that point in your life when you accept your disease more than you did the day before. Maybe you used to be embarrassed to test in front of friends or show people your pump, but one day those things don’t bother you anymore and that is what “being more diabetic” is all about. I love to have people ask me about the nubbins on my stomach or my drug dealer pager because I get to spread the word about diabetes to these people. When we look at ourselves as role models of a disease then we take better care of ourselves. Every diabetic is a role model and should act that way.
6. Do you have any tips or advice for other people living with diabetes?
Read my blog for one month and you will just see the tips and advice I have for all the diabetics out in the world. The most basic tip I always have for every diabetic or person for that matter is to always have a flashlight on you (that works). Light is comforting, you can work with it, signal with it, and even throw it at a bear to save your life but put a flashlight in your car, home, diabetes purse, and anywhere you can.
7. What are your favorite blogs to read?
I read a lot of blogs and one of my favorites is Celiabetes. Nikki has diabetes, celiac disease and all sorts but she is probably the most positive person on the planet. I love to read positive stuff. Scully is a Canadian diabetic that cycles and she has a great sense of humor with plenty of four lettered words that will crack you up. Scott writes about all sorts of stuff and really keeps people like me in the loop about what is going on with diabetes and his life. Off the top of my head those are probably the first three I check out every day, I like positive fun stuff and these three blogs are always good reads.
Thank you for sharing you unique perspective, Dave. Perhaps we’ll see you out in the wild! To learn more about other bloggers like Dave, please check out the rest of our Blogger Spotlight series. If you would like to share your story with us, click here!
Well this is a nice and very enthusiastic discussion which is helpful for making the people better those who have been diagnosed with diabetes and just have to take a little precaution for maintaining the healthy state of their body.
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