I am way overdue in posting this.  I finally had some downtime (see also: being sick.  again.) and figured it was about time I wrote about my time at the Diabetes Sisters Weekend for Women conference at the beginning of this month.  This was my third year attending and you can find my posts about previous years here and here.

Like the past conferences, I had a wonderful time.  I don’t think you can find any more solidarity than being surrounded by about 100 other women with diabetes.  It doesn’t get much better than that 🙂  There were sessions about learning to love exercise from the fabulous Ginger Vieira, how to ignite your diabetes power from the legendary Riva Greenberg, information on dietary supplements and how they affect or do not affect diabetes, the down low on diabetes technology from Amy Tenderich of Diabetes Mine, unlocking the secrets of a long, happy life with diabetes, creating better relationships marriages which was a very open, intimate conversation with the likes of Kerri Sparling.  Our keynote speaker for the weekend was Mother Love.  I admit, I didn’t know much about her before meeting her there.  But let me tell you, she is one funny woman.  She also brought to light for all of us how it is important for us to take care of ourselves.  Something that all of the attendees were doing by attending the conference!  There was also the annual Orange Will walk to start the day on Saturday.  It’s always nice to see a group of people walking for a cause.

Something new this year were offsite field trips – one option was a tour of the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle Teaching Farm in Raleigh and the other option was the Novo Nordisk insulin manufacturing facility in Clayton.  I opted for the Novo Nordisk plant and was so glad I did!  It was phenomenal to see how they manufacture something like insulin, that is a life saving medication used by so many people.  Talk about a high standard of sterility!  It gave me a new appreciation for the people who take their job very seriously to give us that life juice 😉

I honestly think the most valuable thing about this conference is the relationships that are built.  The friendships that are made.  The deep camaraderie that is felt.  The entire weekend concentrates on how to make you better.  How to make your life as a woman with diabetes more manageable.  How to help you feel less alone.  And living with diabetes, who doesn’t need that?

In case you missed the conference in Raleigh, or live closer to the west coast, there is also a conference coming up in October in San Francisco.  Check it out for more details.