Month: November 2015

I Know What My Supplies Mean to Me. #Insulin4All!

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If you’ve been reading this blog for a while now, you’ll know how strongly I feel about blood glucose monitoring and test strips. I could not possibly survive without my test strips. Sometimes I use as many as 10 a day. Test strips, among other diabetes supplies, help me to feel grounded and in control of my diabetes. I could not possibly live without them. So much so that I’ve been driven to write some pieces, both here and for Insulin Nation, advocating for greater access for people with diabetes in Australia.

So when Elizabeth Rowley from an organisation called T1International reached out to me about a campaign called #Insulin4All, it seemed like a natural cause for me to support.

It’s easy to take diabetes supplies for granted when I live in a country where I have always had excellent and affordable access. It’s easy to take my diabetes healthcare professionals for granted when they are so easily available, and at no cost to me under public healthcare. It’s easy to forget that these supplies, and professional support, are what keep me alive and healthy. Today, and each and every day for the rest of my life. And I couldn’t imagine my life without them.

When I think about disadvantaged people in other parts of the world who cannot access insulin, among other diabetes supplies, I really have nothing to be complaining about. There are people out there with type 1 diabetes who struggle to survive because they cannot access life saving insulin, blood glucose test strips and basic healthcare. Some take insulin without knowing if their blood sugar level is high or low. Some suffer diabetes complications, or die a premature death from a lack of supplies, education and healthcare. There are plenty of really touching stories on T1International’s blog.

I support #Insulin4All this November, because I know what my diabetes supplies mean to me!

I hope that you will join me, and have a bit of fun with it too.

So, you need your sign, with the words “we are the world in World Diabetes Day,” and the hashtag #Insulin4All. I felt like a kid again, with my ruler, lead pencil, eraser and textas, carefully outlining my letters and words on a straight line and then marking over them!

Then you need a photo, with yourself or a group holding the sign. Get creative. The best I could come up with was holding a handful of my Lantus pens. And, trying to find the best lit spot in the house free of noticeable junk in the photo!

Then, head on over to insulin4all.tumblr.com and upload your photo to the campaign wall.

And spread the word! #Insulin4All!

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Dear Content Marketing Specialist…

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I received an e-mail over the weekend that frustrated me, so I’ve penned my reply here today. For the purpose of this blog post, I will refer to my e-mail recipient as “Content Marketing Specialist.” Well, technically she was.

Dear Content Marketing Specialist,

I’m afraid I cannot support your client’s practice of giving people money for their unused glucose test strips. Yes, the person who you buy the test strips off might receive “some” financial assistance. I quote the word ‘some,’ because I seriously doubt that it would amount to anything significant towards those “financial burdens” of managing diabetes that “we all understand.” However, you neglect to mention that your client is also taking advantage of another person with diabetes in need when the test strips are onsold. Your client is making a profit as a middleman, a practice which is unethical.

I will not be placing a link to your client’s website on my blog, beside other charitable organisations on my resources page. I would hardly compare your client to some of the other charitable organisations on my Resources page. Organisations such as Diabetes Australia, who place the importance of assisting people with diabetes in need ahead of making a profit. Government organisations such as the National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS), who heavily subsidise the cost of my test strips with Australian taxpayers hard earned money. It seems like a real insult to them to take advantage of this scheme, which gives me greater access, better management and peace of mind over the disease that I live with.

I am extremely fortunate that I live in a country where I have access to diabetes supplies such as insulin, test strips and syringes. Supplies that I heavily rely on to keep me alive, and dare I say healthy. There are many other people out there in less fortunate parts of the world who don’t have the same luxury. People die each day because they cannot get access to life saving supplies. And if I had the means to do so, I would go there and help those people directly.

If you had actually read this blog that contains “useful information for diabetics,” you would know that I would not even consider standing for such a practice.

So, now I will put something to you. How about dropping your client and directing your resources towards an organisation or cause that is doing actual good for people with diabetes?

This, coincidentally, is what I will be doing throughout November, which is Diabetes Awareness Month.

I hope you will join me.

Many thanks,

Frank