My last BUT definitely not least guest blogger is someone who I find truly hilarious, witty and down to earth. He is the author of The B.A.D. Blog and you can follow his tweets at @Ninjabetic.
While I haven’t met him in person he is someone who I definitely want to meet in the upcoming year. Thanks George for writing an incredible post and for being a great diabetic buddy!
Guest Post
The D Team
I am a huge fan of being a team. More can get done. Each can use their own specific talents in their own specific way to get a task done. Everyone is important and plays a vital role.
Teamwork is where it’s at.
I look at the diabetes online community and I see this enormous team. One that supports each other in a way I would have never imagined possible. A way that truly changed my life and ultimately saved it.
Us diabetics look into the face of diabetes everyday and battle all the ups and downs. There was a time when we felt alone going into that battle but no more. We have support that we can call on if we need help, advice, or even just an empathic ear. We always seem to be there for each other.
But I want you to think back for a moment. Back before you found this community. Back when you did feel alone in this battle. When asking questions and advice were written down and brought up at doctors visits. Think about how awful that felt.
Now I want you to imagine the people with diabetes right now who do not know this community and who feel completely alone. Full of sorrow and confusion and the feeling that no one on this planet can understand what they are going through. Think about them because they are out there and they need our support.
Is this community for everyone? Well I sure don’t see why you wouldn’t want to be apart of this community but I know some people are different and this sort of thing may not be for them but my guess is, there are plenty of diabetics out there wishing they had the support we do. How can we reach out to them?
Since I was a kid I have always heard that word of mouth is the best form of advertisement. So my challenge to you is to talk about the D-OC. Talk about the blogs you read and hopefully write! Talk about the people you follow on Twitter and how you know diabetics from around the world who are there for you when you need them. Find out who is diabetic that you know who does not know the OC and introduce them to a blog or two or even to a community like Tu Diabetes or Diabetes Daily. Get them dialed in so one less diabetic has to feel that loneliness that comes with diabetes.
None of us should have to go it alone. We are a team.
**I want to thank Andrea (Sticky Sweet Momma) for asking me to guest post here. It was a lot of fun and I love all you do for this community and our mission to raise awareness. You are awesome!**
Talk about it because Everyone Knows Someone!
My next guest blogger is a woman who I had the honor of volunteering with her non-profit organization in 2008. She is extremely nice and did not hesitate to say yes when I asked her to guest post. How she fit it into her jam-packed schedule I don’t know but I’m so thankful she did.
Brandy Barnes is the Founder and Executive Director of DiabetesSisters. This organization has some really wonderful programs like the Diabetes Buddy Program, Forums and a Free reminder program. Wait did that say free? Yes it did! She will also be hosting the Weekend for Women event in May 2010 with TCOYD.
Thank You Brandy for all that you do in the diabetes community and for being a guest on Sticky Sweet Diabetics.
Guest Post
With Diabetes Awareness Month upon us, I have given a lot of thought to the phrase “National Diabetes Awareness Month” and what it means to those of us living with the disease. During November, we usually hear lots of alarming facts and statistics about diabetes. These facts and statistics are meant to bring awareness to a disease that is not well understood by the general public. Some view the month as a time to clear up myths and misconceptions about diabetes. Others see the month as an opportunity to encourage those with undiagnosed diabetes to get tested. But that’s how the general public is involved in National Diabetes Awareness Month. What role do those of us living with diabetes play in this important month?
There are lots of ways to get involved in this important month, including volunteering with diabetes organizations, donating to diabetes organizations, educating yourself and others about diabetes, and being physically active during the month of November. But, by far, the most impactful thing you can do during National Diabetes Awareness Month is to Share YOUR Diabetes Story with others.
Each one of us has a unique diabetes story and everyone’s story is interesting. We all gained a lot of wisdom through our experiences. Sharing your story with others just might prolong or even save someone’s life. Think about it… The question I am most often asked by those who don’t have diabetes is, “How did you know you had diabetes?” To me, this means that people are interested learning from my experiences. Undoubtedly, part of telling your story usually involves talking about the diabetes symptoms you experienced. Hearing about those symptoms in a story format makes them memorable to those who hear your story. For example, my story always begins with a memory of me chugging down 64 oz. of soda during a time-out at my high school basketball game, consuming lots of chocolate milkshakes at my mother’s request due to my extreme weight loss, and noticing my blurred vision when I couldn’t read the chalk board during my Biology class.
Another part of telling your story also involves talking about how your life changed and how you adapted to your new life with diabetes. This provides your listener with the “true” reality of what living with diabetes looks like and the fact that life goes on after a diabetes diagnosis. I usually talk about how being hospitalized and emotionally retreating inward for about 24 hours to deal with this life-changing diagnosis. I also talk about how I had to get accustomed to eating balanced meals and snacks to coincide with my insulin dose, check my blood sugar every few hours to ensure that my blood sugar level stayed within a certain range, and how I had to always carry some emergency foods in case my blood sugar dropped too low to avoid seizures. Your story is likely similar, yet unique to you!
Most likely, your story also discusses how others reacted to your diagnosis. This will give the listener an opportunity to see what appropriate and inappropriate responses to those with diabetes look like. I usually talk about how my friends responded initially to my diagnosis with supporting words. I also talk about some of the ill-informed responses I have received, such as “Oh, you have diabetes, that means you have to eat Big Macs all the time, right?” and some the stereotypical responses I have received such as, “You don’t look like you have diabetes.” You probably have some similar stories and maybe even some that are humorous.
Not only can this kind of open dialogue about our disease serve to educate those who are uneducated about it, but it can also serve as an opportunity to empower those of us who are living with diabetes. The more you talk about your disease and become comfortable with your story, the more likely it will have an impact on someone else’s life. So, take the opportunity this November to fine-tune YOUR Diabetes Story. Take every opportunity to practice sharing your story with others. It may be uncomfortable at first or it may come naturally. Either way, you will feel a sense of relief afterward. You will also feel pride in the fact that you did your part to open the lines of communication about diabetes and that you told your story with confidence.
If you are a woman with diabetes, I encourage you to share YOUR Diabetes Story with other “Sisters” who are living with diabetes at www.diabetessisters.org. The DiabetesSisters’ Women’s Forum provides ongoing opportunities for you to talk and share ideas with other women who are living with diabetes.
Talk about it because Everyone Knows Someone!
My next guest blogger is one of my closet friends. She is an amazing cheerleader, motivator and an amazing friend. She is one of the most positive people that I know. Even when she is having a bad day she still is there for others. Everyone in the diabetes OC loves her! Follow her tweets at @Diabetic_Iz_Me and definitely check out her blog at Diabetes Daily. Thank You Cherise for guest posting you are the BEST!
June 14, 2004 I was diagnosed with Type 1.5/LADA. I cried. The first person that popped in my head was my step father. I knew I didn’t want to live with diabetes the way he did. I cried. I called my Mom. I let her know what was going on, she said,” I should have known what was wrong with you; you sure was drinking a lot of water and going to the bathroom a lot.”
I went home that night; I researched as much information as I could. I saw a lot of sites about finding a cure for diabetes and not much on how to live with it. I was irritated and upset. I understand the need to cure diabetes but can you teach me how to live with it without trying to milk my pockets. Teach me how to LIVE with DIABETES! Did my step Father have the tools he needed to live with Diabetes?
It is what it is and I have to live with it. I became a very informed patient/diabetic. I asked questions, searched the internet and I found several online communities and blogs. I live with diabetes. My Husband, Mother, Brother and Doctor’s don’t. You have to want to before someone will help you.
My focus wasn’t and has never been completely about finding a cure. If we found a cure how much would it cost for us to actually get it? Insurance companies barely approve the tools we need to make living with Diabetes easier…so, think about this…Yes, I want a cure but I want to focus on Education and Awareness because in the meantime what do we do?
Last month I went to a luncheon “Celebration of Strength”. I heard a woman say, “I have been living with diabetes for over 50 years. I was promised there would be a cure 5 years after I was diagnosed. 50 years later there isn’t a cure”. My heart sunk. Insulin isn’t a cure, pumping isn’t a cure, metformin isn’t a cure and exercising isn’t a cure. I honestly can’t remember any of my Doctor’s or Endocrinologist mention a cure to me and I am glad they didn’t.
Can we “try” to focus on the now, focus on education, and focus on living with diabetes, focus on awareness, and focus on saving lives, limbs and organs. A cure will come one day just not soon enough.
We can either hide under a shell or Raise our voice. What will you choose to do?
November 14, 2009 is World Diabetes Day. Diabetes isn’t a black, white, Hispanic, Asian or Indian problem…it’s becoming a WORLD EPEIDEMIC. Diabetes knows no color, location, and size or food preference. We can hide under a shell, wait for a cure or Raise our voice. What will you choose to do?
Please wear blue on 11-14-09!!! It’s not all about “I”, it’s a WORLD effort.
Be Blessed
Cherise
Talk about it because Everyone Knows Someone!
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
Talk about it because Everyone Knows Someone!
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.
Talk about it because Everyone Knows Someone!
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.
Talk about it because Everyone Knows Someone!
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!
Talk about it because Everyone Knows Someone!
