The Science of Monitoring Yourself

A presentation at Southeast Ruby Conference in in Nashville, TN, USA by Mary Thengvall

We’re told on a regular basis to monitor the performance, speed, responsiveness, memory, and general health of our websites, with the ever-present threat of down time hanging over our shoulder. But how often do we pay this same attention to our own physical and mental health?

As a Type 1 Diabetic, it’s a little more front-of-mind, as it’s not just about how much exercise I’ve gotten in the last month, how healthy my diet is, or how much of a workaholic I am… It’s about what the ratio of sugar to insulin is in my bloodstream at every moment of every day. It’s about making sure I’ve got a spare insulin pod, my test machine, a granola bar, glucose tabs, and my trusty sidekick Ember Dog (with all of his accouterment) at all times.

But just because I have to be more aware of certain things doesn’t lessen the importance of paying attention to general physical and mental health, which come with their own set of potentially deadly side effects. In this Ignite talk, I’ll touch briefly on my day-to-day life with diabetes, and then segue into what the past two years have taught me about mental and physical health.