I was asked to write a post about a great interactive website called Diabetes Act Now! Diabetes Act Now was created by the American Diabetes Association (one in english and one in spanish) as a part of their ongoing efforts to increase diabetes awareness. The campaign started this month for diabetes awareness month. They are making efforts to help us live with diabetes until a cure found. I love it!
The websites will help raise awareness of the risks of uncontrolled diabetes, to help give adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes a place to get answers, and learn easy actions to help reduce and prevent complications like heart attack and stroke.
When you visit the website a series of statistics about diabetes appear before you are greeted by a physician. To his right (your left) is the option to learn about your numbers and to his left (your right) are easy actions. There are two easy actions. The first is a banner that reads Who’s your health care provider and the second is a banner that reads Type 1 vs Type 2 what’s the difference Both give you definitions of each.
Across the top of the screen are three choices. The first choice is Simple Answers which is three videos that talk about the ABC’s of diabetes (A1c, Blood Pressure and Cholesterol). The doctor reminds you not to forget your goals card located at the bottom of the screen. When you click on the goals card it will take you to a one page printable sheet of medical information (A1c, Blood Pressure, Ldl/Hdl Cholesterol, and number of times a day to test your glucose). One side is your current information and the other side is your goals. Across the bottom is a space for your next appointment and questions to ask your doctor.
The second choice is Easy Actions (my personal favorite part of the whole website) which is a series of 9 videos (Cholesterol, Parking Lot, Salt, Stress, Activity, Pizza Effect, Supermarket Skills, Restaurant Portions, and Expect the Unexpected). At the end of each video you have the option to share, watch the video again or watch the next video. You also have the option to Try It. The try it option takes you to your easy action page and adds a friendly reminder email that will help you stay on track. You have to sign up for a free account but it only asks you for your name and email address.
The last choice is My Easy Actions which allows you to manage your account (change your email address or password), see your upcoming actions and your completed actions. I’ve signed up for the Stress and Expect the Unexpected Videos.
What I loved the most about the website is how user-friendly and easy it is. All of the videos were no longer than a minute. The animation was cute without being annoying (Fuss sat in my lap and watched them with me).
What I didn’t like about the website is the information is limited. Hopefully the ADA will add more videos so you can implement more easy action steps.
Overall I rate the website a 9 and highly recommend it for any diabetic no matter the age or type of diabetes. It will also be great for T3’s (friends, family and co workers).
Talk about it because Everyone Knows Someone!
I’m on the Chatterbox Show talking about diabetes awareness month. Check me out http://www.blogtalkradio.com:80/chatterboxradio/2009/11/09/Diabetes-Awareness-Month-with-Andrea-Bradley-of-Sticky-Sweet-Diabetics
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As a part of Diabetes Awareness Month I asked four people who I admire to write a blog post for me. I am so lucky that all of them said yes.
My first guest post is from my eye doctor. Dr. Lozada is the owner and optometrist at Rosedale Vision Center located at 3424 Rainbow Blvd., Kansas City, KS 66103. I love him because 1. He found Dre’s cataracts that Children Mercy had missed (that’s a whole other rant post) 2. He is friendly, nice, comforting, always happy and explains EVERYthing to me so that I can understand it 3. He is an advocate for good eye health 4. He remembers his patients when he sees them outside of the office 5. He is living his passion
Guest Post:
Remember that diabetes is a disease of metabolism in which the body is unable to properly control the amount of sugar in the bloodstream. This is why blood sugar is measured and a higher number indicates a greater problem of control. When too much sugar is available, vision can become blurry due to excess sugar in the eye itself. This greater than normal amount of blood sugar causes a fluid in the eye (the vitreous fluid) to actually change the focus of the eyes. Some diabetic patients even report that their vision changes after eating a meal. Fluctuating vision is often the first symptom that brings a diabetic patient to my office. For a patient with this problem, I do not recommend that they obtain eye glasses until after their blood sugar is under stable because the eye glass prescription that I measure will depend upon their level of blood sugar at that moment. In other words, it is possible to have a patient see clearly with one measurement when they are hungry and a different measurement after eating a meal.
How clear a patient is able to see is not the only way that diabetes affects the eyes. When too much sugar is present in the blood vessels, smaller blood vessels begin to leak. Sometimes these small blood vessels leak a clear fluid, but if a patient has diabetes that is not controlled or is taking medications, but not under control for a long time, the leaks become big enough for blood cells to pass through. The eyes and kidneys have some of the smallest blood vessels in the body and, as I like to tell patients, it is easier to see these hemorrhages inside the eye than inside the kidneys. Some patients have no leaks at all inside their eyes and that is obviously the best outcome to have. Some patients have small hemorrhages that quickly clear up one day with a new hemorrhage appearing in a different area the next day. These patients have “Background Diabetic Retinopathy” and are the normal state for them. Patients who do not have their disease controlled may have larger hemorrhages and even new blood vessels growing inside the eye. These patients have “Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy” which must be followed closely to prevent sight-threatening hemorrhages from occurring.
If you are a diabetic patient, the level of care that is best is to have an eye examination every year with eye dilation. Eye dilation simply provides the best view inside of the eye and getting a detailed view inside of the eye is the only way to know what is really happening.
Thank You Dr. Lozada for guest posting for me. It means more than words can ever express. Praying that you get more patients than you can handle.
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4 days in and I’ve already lost the NaBloPoMo challenge to blog everyday for 30 days. I had planned on writing a post yesterday evening but we were so wrapped up into Family Fun Night that I forgot all about it. The boys and I played our first game of Checkers (Thomas was in the bed sick). It was very interesting because Fuss was either running his cars across the board or stealing the Checkers pieces and running. Needless to say we are now one checker piece short. I won but I showed Dre’ the moves he could have made so he can get better at it.
After that we played a surprisingly short game of War. We gave Fuss two cards and he was content with that until he realized he had to give his cards up. So we just let him keep his. Either one of us won depending on who you ask. Thomas grew up playing that who ever lost all of their cards first was the loser. I grew up playing just the opposite way.
In my world we were all winners because nothing can beat family fun night.
P.S. I shipped 250 ribbons to Boston and 10 to Malaysia yesterday. I shipped 100 to a blind veteran group last week. Others are on their way please be patient if you ordered.
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When you read the title of the post I know you think that I’m saying that my boys take insulin, have to check their blood sugar, and watch what they eat. They don’t have to do any of that (except for the last one) but they are still diabetic.
They are what we in the DOC call T3 (type 3). T3’s are our friends, family and co-workers. The people who we interact with everyday that are just as affected by our diabetes as we are. The people who don’t get diabetes because they don’t have it but they have to deal with it anyway. My children fall into that category.
Fuss doesn’t really understand at the new age of 3 what mommy is doing when I check my blood sugar or inject my insulin. He stands there and watches very closely, not touching, not speaking. When I’m done he sticks out his hand so I can check his blood sugar (I really don’t check it) and he lifts up his shirt and points to his belly saying medicine. With the cap on I pretend to poke him in his belly with insulin. I do my best to explain it to him so he will get “it”.
Dre’ is actively involved in my diabetes care. If I’m short-tempered with him all of a sudden he will ask me “momma do you need to eat?” He knows that lows will cause me to be agitated. He also counts the Diabetes Awareness Ribbons and keeps them in straight rows so they are easier to count.
Both of my children are awesome and I am very blessed to have them! I pray that they never develop diabetes but if they do I want them to be confident, educated, and proactive in their diabetes management. I can only hope that seeing me take care of myself will encourage them to do the same.
Talk about it because Everyone Knows Someone!
This is one of those rare occasions when you get a perfect score when dealing with diabetes. Woo Hoo!
Talk about it because Everyone Knows Someone!
Wishing all my diabetic buddies a Happy Halloween! Don’t let ‘em tell you that you can’t have any candy. One piece wont kill you and if it does you’ve never read my blog. Ok? Ok!
Test, Bolus, and Enjoy!
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I receive the World Diabetes Day newsletters through my email. Today I decided to check the signature petition. I was sad to see we only had 624 signatures. I immediately tweeted about it and here is the email I am sending to my friends and family:
November 14 is World Diabetes Day! It was introduced in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in response to the alarming rise in diabetes around the world. In 2007, the United Nations marked the Day for the first time with the passage of the United Nations World Diabetes Day Resolution in December 2006, which made the existing World Diabetes Day an official United Nations World Health Day.
The theme of World Diabetes Day 2009 is Education and Prevention. Education and Prevention is vital to our community. Prevention will decrease the risk of complications and education will eliminate misconceptions and inaccurate information about diabetes.
We have 320,000 people living with diabetes in Kansas City. Please sign http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/wddusa and pass this on.
Thank You!
We only need a measly 1,000 signatures. I know we can do this. Come on DOC let’s pull together and get this done!
Talk about it because Everyone Knows Someone!
FREE A1C testing in November at select Walgreens.
Join Novo Nordisk and Walgreens in mid-November for the Diabetes Wellness Events at participating 24 hour Walgreens stores. The events offer FREE blood glucose and A1C testing, pharmacist consultations, plus valuable educational materials and training on the world’s #1 selling prefilled insulin pen.* All meant to help you manage your diabetes.
Kansas City (and the surrounding area) will have 10 events:
11/09/09 – Monday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 3421 W. 6th, Lawrence, KS 66049
11/09/09 – Monday 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. 3915 S. Noland, Independence, MO 64055
11/10/09 – Tuesday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 400 W. 23rd St, Lawrence, KS 66046
11/10/09 – Tuesday 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. 3845 Broadway Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64111
11/13/09 – Friday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 15100 W. 87th, Lenexa, KS 66219
11/16/09 – Monday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Metcalf, Overland Park, KS 66204
11/17/09 – Tuesday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 7739 State Ave, Kansas City, KS 66112
11/18/09 – Wednesday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 1701 NW State Rt 7, Blue Springs, MO 64014
11/19/09 – Thursday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 2630 NE Vivion Rd, Kansas City, MO 64119
11/20/09 – Friday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 1191 W. Kansas St, Liberty, MO 64068
To find an event near you, visit Walgreens.com/findastore or call 1-877-W-and-You (1-877-926-3968).
* IMS Health Inc. IMS MIDAS (12 months ending September 2008)
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I’ve been a busy little bee lately. In preparation for Diabetes Awareness month (that’s less than two weeks away) I’ve cut more than 400 Diabetes Awareness Ribbons. I still need another 200 before I even come close to making my order complete. I have requests from all over including Malaysia. This is a blessing! Why? Because the more people who request Diabetes Awareness Ribbons the more we are spreading awareness about diabetes. Which means more people are talking about diabetes and talking leads to doing something about it. Ignoring it is not an option.
The ribbons are free but I’m asking for donations so I can purchase more supplies. Any amount is greatly appreciated.
Talk about it because Everyone Knows Someone!
