More from the Lilly blogger summit

At one time a $50 drug order with Lilly came with a free handmade medicine cabinet. 

When I looked around the room at Lilly's blogger summit I saw some very familiar faces looking back at me. In alphabetical order they were:

Leighann Calentine - D-Mom

Kelly Close - diaTribe

Bennet Dunalp - Your Diabetes May Vary

Mike Hoskins - Diabetes Mine

Scott Johnson - Scott’s Diabetes

Kelly Kunik - Diabetesaliciousness

Tony Rose - Blogging Diabetes

Cherise Shockley - Diabetic Iz Me, Diabetes Social Media Advocacy

George Simmons - Ninjabetic

Lorraine Sisto - This is Caleb

Kerri Sparling - Six Until Me

Kim Vlasnik - Texting My Pancreas

In the first few minutes it was just so amazing to see avatars sort of come to life in front of my eyes but after a while I began wondering who messed up when they invited me. This was a thoughtful group of diabetes advocates and as they spoke it was clear that they had insightful and valuable thoughts to add to the conversation. I began to feel a bit of pressure, I desperately didn't want to bring the level of discourse down when I put in my two cents. When I finally spoke all of my trepidation disappeared because I saw Bennet nodding along with what I was saying. Bennet may now wish that he didn't nod becasue I don't think I shut up for the rest of the day.

As the day progressed I was struck by how valuable it was to have so many different viewpoints responding to the same question. The people in the room continually gave thorough and informed responses to question after question. They made suggestions, gave advice and lent support all of which was so spot on that it could have been regarded as perfect. When all of the participants points were combined at any given moment the information was so complete that I kept thinking that combining our blogs would be the best way to help our readers. Together we were a world book encyclopedia of diabetes information (I guess I should have said Wikipedia). This feeling really is the core of what makes this community so valuable. The people in the room that day aside, we all have so much diabetes life experience and when we share it everyone benefits. It's unlike anything that I've ever experienced or expect to see again in my life.

By the end of the day I no longer felt like someone invited me by mistake. I realized that I misinterpreted the feeling I had as the day began. What I felt was respect, a bit of awe and a great deal of pride. Pride in the work that these and so many others do everyday for our community... Pride in the knowledge that I was a part of it.

A lot of good will come from our meeting, more perhpas then can be properly quantified right now. 

Arden's Day Gives: Application for Incorporation

Yesterday was a momentous day around here. Way back on November 3, 2011, I announced my intentions to launch a charity that would strive to lesson the financial burden for young people associated with purchasing insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors - I called it the 'Untitled Giving Project'. In the days after my announcement I received cash gifts from my readers totaling almost three-thousand dollars, everyone said the same thing when they sent their gift, "use this money and do your best to make this happen". 

There was a lot more to do then I could have imagined and I've encountered a speed bump or two along the way but yesterday we submitted the paperwork necessary to be incorporated by the state of New Jersey! I should hear back in a few days and then it'll be time to submit the 501(c)3 paperwork to the federal government. 501(c)3 grants a charitable status, making the charity a non-profit, tax exempt entity.

The timetable is fluid but my goal is to be granted an incorporation certificate by the end of next week, which will allow me to finally stop saying "Untitled Giving Project" and begin using the charity's intended name, Arden's Day Gives.

A lot of behind the scenes stuff will happen in the months between now and when the 501(c)3 is obtained. I'll be building... building a website, an online following and relationships within the community. 

I want you all to know that the gifts you made back in November are being treated as if they were my own money. I shook with responsibility when I wrote the first check to cover legal expenses and have been exceedingly careful to only spend exactly what I've had to. I'm happy to tell you that I've only used about a third of the money that you all gave so generously and the balance should be more then enough to establish a web presence, set up the office and get to the good part... collecting donations that will purchase devices for kids in need.

For now if you could show your support by following Arden's Day Gives on twitter that would be a great beginning for this next step. More details will be coming soon and I'd love for you to be able to follow along as we build this idea, born on my diabetes blog, into a force for good. In the coming days and months we'll be making many announcements... I wish I could tell you who "we" are, I'll be able to soon but let me say this for now. The Board of Trustees is comprised of three people, myself, a wonderful pediatrician and a leader in the Pharma industry. Most importantly my lovely wife Kelly who has almost twenty years of Pharma experience will be the Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary. Arden's Day Gives may have initially been my idea but it would exist without all of you and Kelly's tireless efforts. 

I'll be introducing everyone very soon, introducing our logo and so much more... I can't wait to tell you all about it! Imagining, launching and hoping for our charity has been one of the true pleasures of my life.

In the beginning the best way to hear all the details will be by following Arden's Day Gives on twitter. Please follow us and tell your D-Tweeps - @ArdensDayGives

https://twitter.com/ardensdaygives

Follow @ArdensDayGives

Update on Saturday, April 21, 2012 at 9:27AM by Scott Benner

'Arden's Day Gives' received corporation status from New Jersey today! Now it's time to file the 501(c)3 paperwork with the federal government. I'm still amazed to see what good can come from a well supported idea, this is an amazing community of wonderful people! I can't wait to take the next step...

Social Media is helping me lose weight

I have never been a thin person. I have at times considered myself fat, overweight, in shape, not too bad and an entire slew of other body and health terms. I put on weight for the first time in my life around age six and didn't return to a healthy weight until about ninth grade. That dance has continued throughout my life. My weight hit an all time high around 1998. That was the first time that I took a drastic measure to reduce my size. The diet worked great and before I knew it I looked the best that I ever had! Then we had Cole and I put half of it back on. I've been up and down ever since. I never get so heavy that I feel unhealthy but somehow I always feel better when I take off a few pounds so I know that the weight effects me poorly.

Intellectually I know that I should be leaner and I wish that I looked better but these things never seems to be enough incentive for me to maintain a constant weight. The truly odd thing about me being overweight is that I am not a food person. I don't have cravings or even get hungry very often. It took me a long time to realize that my issue was two-fold: I don't eat enough food or water (often I joke that my body thinks that we are shipwrecked and is conserving fat) and when I do eat, I put no effort into eating well (though my kids are fed very well). Even after coming to that understanding about myself... I still haven't addressed it. I did however eat two batches of Christmas cookies, one at a time, over an 18 day period last month.

I needed help but I know that I wouldn't have sought it out on my own.

About a week ago one of our friends posted on FaceBook that he needed to lose weight. In minutes the idea of a competition was suggested and a week later forty people were signed up for a weight loss contest. Everyone threw in twenty-five dollars and the 'biggest loser' will take home a cool grand. Nice idea and my wife was doing it so I joined in as well. I wasn't all that enthusiastic until I saw something happen, something that was very familiar to me because of diabetes and the DOC.

Along with the competition came a private FaceBook group. To keep things on the up and up everyone had to post a video of their initial weigh in. No one was too pleased and people spoke of dropping out to avoid making their weight public but a few intrepid souls went first and then the greatest thing happened...

People stopped feeling alone, isolated, embarrassed and the weigh in videos began to appear one after the other. Where had I seen this before? In the diabetes online community of course. It's the power of social media. Which is just a new way of saying that people need people. It's community, friendship, support, or as we love to say in the type I world... the knowledge that others are living with and surviving the same things that you are struggling with. Somehow, some wonderful somehow, once you understand that you aren't alone, everything magically gets easier.

I'm watching people that didn't know each other a week ago share things that I know they are embarrassed by. They are offering encouragement, recipes and a lot of needed contact. All of this is supporting and motivating the group. I wish that everyone could experience such community. Up until last week I thought that I would only ever feel like this when I was around the people in the DOC.

This is just another way that social media is helping me. Please share how social media and online relationships have helped you, your post may be their introduction to a much needed life change.

Follow @ArdensDay

Update on Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 10:34AM by Scott Benner

My one month weight loss total is... 21 pounds!

Made our own pots and pans moment

About an hour after I wrote 'Pots, Pans, Baseball, Fathers and Sons' I decided that Cole and I should make our way down to Citizens Bank Park to make a memory of our own. Game one of the 2011 NLDS between the Phillies and Cardinals was without a doubt the most exciting live sporting event that I have ever attended. When Ryan Howard hit this home run to put the Phillies ahead Cole was standing in front of me, I put my left arm across his chest and we jumped up and down together, screaming like maniacs... I still don't have my voice back.

I hope that everyone gets to do something like this at least once... it's unlike any other communal experience I've ever encountered.

I've added some of the pictures that I took at the game to the Visual Record, I hope you enjoy them!