Tag: bigbluetest

Routine

Blogging about diabetes is hard. What do I write about a disease that has become a "normal" part of my life? Poking, [testing](http://www.bigbluetest.org/), carb counting – all are part of daily routine. Yes, routine. And routine is boring. Boring!

Or is it? I had something exciting happen to me this afternoon. Diabetes related. I lanced a hole in my finger (routine), and then squeezed. Normally I get a small drop of blood (routine) but instead I got a squirt of blood – NOT routine. Blood all over my hand. Fortunately none of it got to shirt. Cleaning up was easy.

That's it. Enough excitement for one day.

Blue is my favorite color

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In the United States, November is [National Diabetes Month](http://ndep.nih.gov/partners-community-organization/national-diabetes-month/) and November 14th is [World Diabetes Day](http://www.idf.org/worlddiabetesday/). To kick off what I hope will be a fortnight of blog posts about diabetes awareness I thought I would mention the work of the Diabetes Hand Foundation (dhf) and their [Big Blue Test](http://www.bigbluetest.org/).

The dhf is a non-profit organization founded by Manuel Hernandez. That's the same "Manny" that created TuDiabetes.com, a social network for people affected by diabetes. The Big Blue Test is an annual event designed to raise awareness around diabetes. The Big Blue Test kicks off the month with a video that encourages viewers to take part in the largest ever group diabetes glucose test on the planet.

The campaign reinforces the importance of exercise in managing diabetes. People with diabetes are encouraged to do the Big Blue Test any day between November 1 and November 14 at midnight Pacific Time, by testing their blood sugar, getting active, testing again, and sharing the results online at bigbluetest.org.

Last year, in spirit and support of the Big Blue Test, I made my own [videos](http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2661EBD67B8DDBD5). I look like a goofball in those videos.

Anyway, today I will kick off my participation in the Big Blue Test. Sometime today, I will test my blood glucose, do some physical activity for 14 minutes, retest, and then [post my results to the Big Blue Test website](http://www.bigbluetest.org/#do_from_head).