Today is the shortest day and the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Today has been known as the Winter Solstice for many, many years. I love today! It is the return of the sun!!! And I love the sun! To celebrate, I went to Underneath It All to get three new … Read more
I met Alexis Acker-Halbur when I was 16 years old and she was the Counselor-In-Training (CIT) coordinator at Camp Needlepoint, a Minnesota/Wisconsin summer camp for kids and teens with type 1 diabetes. I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in June 1981, one month after I turned 16 years old. I took the bus out … Read more
I don’t know about you, but for me, surviving the holiday season with good cheer is no easy task. I don’t hang out very much with my family. I am not married. At this moment, I don’t even have a boyfriend. I don’t have children. (that one I am quite glad about!) I am not … Read more
Another year of a month of blue awareness comes to a close. It’s been a challenging month, but not because of diabetes. For me it’s because of the new president of the USA and because of the difficult challenge the native people at Standing Rock are facing. Our overall dependence on fossil fuel has made … Read more
It’s a few days before Thanksgiving and I am thinking about what I’m thankful for, maybe you can relate. Are you considering what you are thankful for? There’s lots I am thankful for: my amazing circle of friends, my snuggly loving dog Echo, my overall good health, to name the top items. I’m also profoundly … Read more
Monday, November 14th, 2016 is World Diabetes Day. And it’s six days after finding out who the new president of the USA will be starting on January 20th, 2017. I am a radical liberal and have been since I was 14 years old. I’ve been arrested seven times in non-violent civil disobedience protests. I am … Read more
I told you last week that I started a 3-month journey of weight loss and increased fitness with diabetes. I successfully have logged my food intake for 8 days and I have joined the YWCA Maintain Your Weight program. I have lowered my basal rate by almost 15% and I am keeping my blood sugars … Read more
In May I broke my ankle, which radically altered my plan to ride my bike 100 miles a few weeks later. In fact, it interrupted my general fitness plans. Slowly and surely, my weight has creeped up. Not fun at all. I noticed how bad it had gotten a few weeks ago, when two pairs of my favorite pants no longer fit comfortably. Weight loss with type 1 diabetes is never a very easy problem to tackle.
Note from Mari: This is a blog post written by Michelle Scharber Banks. Michelle was a volunteer at P.ink Day MSP 2015 and again for 2016. In addition, she got her transformative, healing tattoo this year. Here is Michelle’s beautiful story & a poem she wrote, in her own words: After the Tattoo I’ve been … Read more
Breathe deep. Plant my feet firmly on this beautiful Earth. Feel my heart open. Allow grief, loss, relief, gratitude, to one by one wash through my being. Today, October 20th, marks the 12th anniversary of my first breast cancer diagnosis. I am still alive. I am healthier than I have perhaps ever been. My attitude … Read more