Category Archives: Education

Roche Summit Part 2. Technology.

BG Meters, Community, Education, Events, Roche

One of the things I enjoyed most about the trip to Indianapolis was the opportunity to visit and see firsthand Roche’s main campus, including their Research and Development area and the test strip manufacturing plant.  Seeing before my own eyes how much equipment and effort goes into making Accu-chek test strips was mind boggling.  Just to give you an idea of the magnitude of their production – there are 100,000 vials of 50 test strips manufactured in just one lot.  200 vials per minute are packaged for different countries.  Whoa.  And that is just one test strip manufacturer.  Imagine putting them all together?!  Our tour guide mentioned that the motto in the plant is that “every strip counts”.  I like that.  With how valuable and critical test strip results are, it was good to hear and I hope that all involved take it that seriously.

We also got to hear from some of Roche’s executives on the current and future state of their diabetes technology.  Believe it or not (and I’ll take their word for it) there are 180 companies involved with diabetes technology in one way or another.  180!  They want to make products more useful with integration which was reassuring since isn’t that what we all want?  But it is a work in progress.  And with the FDA seemingly so slow with approving diabetes devices, we have to do our part as patients to assist all pharma companies in dealing with the FDA by voicing our opinions and providing feedback whenever possible.  Their new Combo insulin pump system was discussed and October of this year looks to be when it will be available here in the US.  They shared some upcoming products with us so it looks like they will be busy for some time.

Now to the fun part.  I was given an Accu-chek Nano meter from Roche.  Since I already have one (why yes I do tend to get myself the latest and greatest diabetes equipment!) I would love to give this new one to one of my readers.  To be fair, all attendees from the Social Media Summit will not be eligible.  All you have to do is leave a comment on this post and I will use one of those handy-dandy random number generators to pick the winner and will announce it here on Friday.    The deadline to participate is Thursday, August 9th at noon EST.  It comes with 10 Smartview test strips and the new FastClix lancet device if you haven’t tried that yet.  It is a nice little meter and I really like it but if I’m going to be honest, two things hold me back from using it as my primary meter – lack of a port light where you insert the strips and the batteries it uses (CR2032).  Good luck!!

First Time.

Advocacy, Community, Education, Events

The past few years, I’ve only heard about events like the Roche Diabetes Social Media Summit or Medtronic Diabetes Advocate Forum or more recently the Lilly Diabetes Blogger Summit.  These are events that are by “invite only” and are usually an expense paid type of thing.  I’ve heard nothing but good things from the people who have attended.  I always thought the attendees were lucky to experience such great opportunities to interact with companies like those and each other in extensive advocacy efforts.  Was I a wee bit jealous?  Sure.  Who wouldn’t want the chance for a paid trip to learn about the works and plans of big diabetes companies and to hang out with diabetes friends??  Was I bitter?  Nope.  The diabetes community has grown and continues to grow dramatically.  The bottom line is that it is impossible to give everyone a chance to attend these events.  And I feel that the people chosen to represent the community are chosen for a reason.

However, fast forward to this year.  I was invited.  I have no idea how but I am one of the fortunate diabetes advocates attending the Roche Diabetes Social Media Summit in Indianapolis in just 2 days.  I cannot express how honored and privileged I feel to have been asked.  I know this is going to be the opportunity of a lifetime.  I am excited to see and(or) meet the other advocates attending.  I am thrilled to get a taste of what Roche is like.  I am eager to see what the discussions will entail.  My intention when blogging and advocating about diabetes, is to support all of those who live with diabetes.  In that effort, I am really going to strive to represent people with diabetes as best I can.  If you have anything at all you would like me to ask or mention to Roche during the summit, please let me know.  If you’d rather not leave a comment on this here blog post, feel free to email me as well: staceydblog@gmail.com.

I love the fact that Roche, Medtronic and Lilly are taking the initiative to work with people from the diabetes community to hopefully come up with a plan on how they can better serve our needs.  I don’t know that other communities interact with pharma companies like this.  But they should.  There is no better way to understand the needs of patients then getting together a whole bunch of them at the same time for an elaborate dialogue.  Most of us will be tweeting about the event so please follow #dsummit12.  Of course I will share my experience once I’m back.  But most likely not for a few days after I return since the schedule is pretty packed and I have to go to work the rest of that week.  That thing called sleep I love to do?  Not on the agenda until next weekend 😉

Have a great weekend everyone!

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday.

Advocacy, Community, Education, Minimed

I am an adult.  Yet like stated in my blog bio “I love cute furry animals (of both the live and the stuffed variety!)”  Evidence of this is my own Build-a-Bear collection pictured below.

Since I already had my own stuffed animal bunch, when I heard about Medtronic’s Lenny the Lion, and especially that he was available for purchase, of course I had to get myself one!  He is the softest, most cuddly lion around 🙂

I think it’s great what he stands for and wish when I was a little child with diabetes, something like Lenny was around.  But since it wasn’t, I’ll just have to enjoy him as an adult 😉

A Heart to Heart with Ginger.

Community, Education, Fitness

Ginger Vieira is one of those people from the diabetes community that I look up to and admire.  Not only has she been living well with diabetes, she made a career of helping people live well also.  I had the pleasure of meeting Ginger last year at the Unite for a Healthy Future event.  Her positive attitude, healthy outlook and smile are contagious.  I had some questions I’ve been wanting to ask her and she was nice enough to let me share it with all of you.       

S: Tell me more about your diabetes diagnosis.

G: The most unique part of my diabetes diagnosis is that I actually diagnosed myself and no one believed me for a week. I was 13 years old, in the 7th grade, and the entire 7th grade does a health fair every year. One of the kids in my class, Miles, did his project on “diabetes.” I had been feeling sick for about 3 weeks – my whole family got the flu, and it seemed like mine never went away! I started reading Miles’ poster on diabetes while we were in science class, and I had all of the symptoms listed. I told my mom later that day that I thought I had this “thing called diabetes.” We didn’t know anything about it, so she said, “No, no, that’s impossible.” A week later, I started crying because I felt so awful, and we finally went to the hospital.

S: Tell me more about your celiac diagnosis.

G: I’m really lucky in how quickly I was diagnosed with celiac. Most people don’t even get tested until they’re bodies are suffering and they feel really sick. By then, your small intestine has already experienced a great deal of damage. My endocrinologist just tested me on principle during the second year of my life with Type 1 diabetes.

I was very good at following my gluten-free guidelines throughout high school, and then I teetered out of those lines during college for about one year. In other words, I cheated whenever I felt like it! Because I was diagnosed so quickly, I really don’t have very noticeable symptoms, if any, to gluten. I would get a headache sometimes, but because I was eating small snacks of gluten so often, I stopped noticing how unhappy my body was.

Today, I can honestly say I have no interest in eating gluten (*cheating) because everything about my body feels healthier and happier when there is no gluten in my body. Can I get away with trying my best friend’s chocolate ganache cake pop sometimes? Yes…but I try to keep those “taste-testing” excursions to just 3 or 4 small bites a year.

S: How did you know you wanted to be a trainer/coach?

G: Well, it was really never something I thought about until I had hired a personal trainer for my own health goals during my senior year of college. Within a year of training with him, I knew I wanted to motivate people to take good care of themselves, to see how much they are capable of, to become stronger and more confident in their own skin than they thought possible!

I never thought of myself as an athlete until that year. During the next year, amidst powerlifting competitions and training, I realized I wanted to do more than just teach people how to exercise, I wanted to help them change the way they see the challenges in their health, change the way they pursue their goals, and change the way they literally think about themselves.

That year, I began training as a cognitive coach in David Rock’s coaching program that is based on the neuroscience of the brain – the way your brain thinks, the chemicals involved, and how to create a conversation that leads you to making incredible changes in your thinking habits.

S: Do you have a lazy side? If so, how do you push yourself?

G: I was always fairly active in middle school and high school, but it wasn’t until my senior year of college when I found my passions in exercise, and the confidence in what I’m capable of—I’ll try almost anything now. Today, it’s so easy to convince myself to get up and go to the gym because my body craves it. My brain craves it. And I just feel balanced and at peace when I’ve made time for it.

And that’s exactly one of the things that I love helping other people discover in themselves. It takes an immense amount of commitment and focus to get to that point, but you will get there eventually if you make it your goal.

Don’t get me wrong…I love my couch, though! And the occasional nap!

S: What is your all time favorite food?

G: All time favorite? Oh, goodness. I can’t choose just one. But here are three foods that I could eat every day:

1. Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage
2. Fuji Apples
3. Ben & Jerry’s Pistachio Pistachio

S: Do you ever eat “unhealthy” foods?

G: Yes! I keep a container of Ben & Jerry’s Pistachio Pistachio in my freezer at all times! A healthy relationship with food includes junk food. My relationship with food is about balance. About 90% of my day is good clean food: eggs, meats, apples, carrots, hummus and water. But if I’m craving something sweet, I don’t make that off-limits. Telling yourself that you cannot or should not eat a certain type of food in order to “ be healthy” or even in an effort to lose weight, will probably backfire on your incredible.

When nothing is off-limits, and there are no rules, then junk food is no longer a big. I don’t ever binge on the ice cream in my freezer…because it’s always there! I can eat it whenever I feel like. I basically nibble on it throughout the week. And I exercise so much that every remains balanced. When I was powerlifting training regularly (which I’m not now), I actually needed over 3,000 calories a day, so I had to include junk food just to get it all in! Today, I really only need 1800 to 2000 calories.

This question actually brings up something I am super-passionate about coaching other folks in. Your relationship with food!

I truly, wholeheartedly believe that diabetes skews and twists our relationship with food. It makes food a chore, an evil, a thing that can save our life, and a thing we’re supposed to avoid and count and think about constantly.

I also truly believe that developing a healthy relationship with food is very possible. I’ve done it for myself, and every coaching client I’ve ever worked with has come to me with a goal of overcoming emotional eating.

This is the next topic I’m writing my next book about. I’ve created the outline for the book, but that’s about as far as I’ve gotten!

S: Have you ever been on an insulin pump? Why or why not?

G: Yes, I was on an insulin pump about 6 months after I was diagnosed. I was the first teenager at Dartmouth Hitchcock Hospital they actually let go on a pump…that was 1999! I went off my pump about 6 years later. My skin really didn’t like it, my infusion sites were always itchy and getting clogged with blood or infected. I didn’t feel comfortable doing yoga with my pump, always stretching and having the infusion site pop out. It would’ve never fit with my powerlifting belt, I would’ve been bruised constantly. Yada yada. It’s just not for me.

My A1C has basically been around 6.8 to 7 percent whether or not I’m on an insulin pump. I’m very happy to be using Lantus and Humalog.

S: I love your dog. What kind is he and is it hard at all to take care of a dog so big?

G: His name is Blue. He is amazing. He’s a goldendoodle (part poodle, part golden retriever).

He was a very stubborn puppy (like mother, like son), so I was very strict in his discipline to ensure that he knows I’m the boss, the leader of the pack, and his mama. Today, despite his size, he’s awesomely well behaved, incredibly friendly, and a lover of life. *However, given him a bath is a pain in the butt.

Meanwhile, because of his size, it’s also really easy to tackle him, wrestle him, and basically wrap my whole body around him when I need him to sit still while my friend is cleaning his ears (he hates that!).

I also recently adopted a 9 year-old pup named Einstein. He’s learning from Blue how great life can be. He was given to a shelter because his owner was dying, and I don’t think his owner took him outside very often. He didn’t even know his name or how to sit when I got him.
Today, due to lots of cuddling, kisses, and walks in the woods, he’s become a very happy canine…and a good friend of Blue’s.

S: I started reading your book (and will continue just as soon as I finish the Hunger Games trilogy!!). So far I loved how you explain things. What was the moment when you thought, I’m going to write this book?

G: Hmm…well, when I started powerlifting training during 2009, I had to learn so much about basic human physiology because not only did the endocrinologists in my area know nothing about competitive sports, exercise and diabetes, but the head endocrinologist there also rolled his eyes at me when I said I wanted to train and compete in powerlifting.

So I was on my own.

I read medical textbooks and talked a lot with my trainer, Andrew, about basic exercise physiology. After really coming to understand it well, and taking a lot of notes around my own blood sugars, training workouts, and competitions, I realized that this was my book. This information that you can’t find easily anywhere else.

It’s frustrating to me, in one sense, that doctors don’t take the time to teach us some of this stuff, but I know they don’t have time. We are all capable of learning it though, and it applies to every part of life with diabetes.

S: Your newest venture was becoming the mental health coach for Team WILD. How is that going?

G: Oh, it’s only just begun! TeamWILD is founded by the awesome Mari Ruddy (a two-time cancer survivor and tri-athlete living with Type 1 diabetes). Working with and for Mari is great because she sees what her staff is capable of and gives them the reigns to be as awesome as they can be.

TeamWILD is holding it’s camp in Boulder this coming June, and I will be one of the main 4 staff members running the camp. You’ll also find three videos from me in your training packages if you sign-up for any of the various programs TeamWILD offers!

Wanting to exercise is the first step, but the next step is making sure that you’ve learned everything you need to in order to exercise effectively, safely, and productively with diabetes. Going for a jog when your blood sugar is 240 mg/dL, even if you don’t have ketones, isn’t going to give you all of the benefits you’re hoping for. You’ve gotta learn how your body works and how to manage diabetes on top of that.

TeamWILD is an awesome source for learning that information, and reaching all of your athletic goals in endurance sports.

If you haven’t already, I would highly recommend interacting with Ginger online – I’ve included links where to find her at Living In Progress, her book Your Diabetes Science Experiment which can be purchased as a paperback or an e book, her services at Team Wild and you can also find her on twitter @gingervieira 🙂

In the Name of Research.

Advocacy, Education, Family

When I was at the JDRF Research Summit last month, the main focus of the presenters was the progress, current efforts and complexity of finding a cure for type 1 diabetes. There was also mention by Dr. Desmond Schatz (Professor and Associate Chairman of Pediatrics, Medical Director of the Diabetes Center and Director of the GCRC at the University of Florida, Gainesville) of the need for people in the diabetes community to get involved in research studies. And this makes sense. If doctors and researchers cannot identify the cause and possible factors that cause diabetes, they will not be able to cure it. I hate to admit that in my 30 years of living with type 1 diabetes, I have not participated in any research. But I changed that recently.

TrialNet had representatives at the summit and I approached them to see if there were any research opportunities for twins and type 1 diabetes. If you’ve never heard of TrialNet, “Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet is an international network of researchers who are exploring ways to prevent, delay and reverse the progression of type 1 diabetes. TrialNet was established in response to the Surgeon General’s Report Healthy People 2000. This report identified diabetes as a national health objective for the Nation. In response to the report, Congress created the Diabetes Research Working Group (DRWG) to develop a plan for diabetes research. One recommendation of the DRWG was to conduct additional research studies (clinical trials) to prevent type 1 diabetes.” “TrialNet is conducting clinical trials with researchers from 18 Clinical Centers in the United States, Canada, Finland, United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. In addition, more than 150 medical centers and physician offices are participating in the TrialNet network. Studies are available for people newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, as well as for relatives of people with type 1 diabetes who are at greater risk of developing the disease.” So of course they organize a study for type 1 diabetes and twins. If you don’t know already, I have an identical twin sister who does not have diabetes. And if you think about us developing from the same egg, having nearly identical DNA, having the same environmental influences both in my mother’s womb and growing up, not to mention having the same father who had type 1 as well, it makes me wonder why my beta cells destroyed themselves but not my sister’s. (Not that I am in ANY way wishing she had it too. This is strictly a scientific marvel) Both my sister and I gave blood samples that were mailed to TrialNet for the to test for certain antibodies related to type 1 diabetes. I was very happy to take part in research that will help the mission of finding a cure for diabetes. Even if I don’t see the cure in my lifetime, it would please me to know that I helped people after my time.

Research is very critical to finding a cure for diabetes. And who better to help with that research than those of us already living with the condition? Please check out TrialNet’s website (https://www.diabetestrialnet.org/index.htm) and see what clinical trials you would be able to participate in.  It will benefit the entire diabetes community!

image credit: JDRF

Diabetes Alert Day.

Advocacy, Community, Education, Events

I live with a type of diabetes that cannot be prevented or reversed. My diet or weight as a five year old had nothing at all to do with why I was diagnosed. I have taken insulin every day for the past 30 years to stay alive. Eating right and exercising of course helps me stay healthy overall and does improve my blood sugar readings but it will not get rid of my diabetes. There are about 900,000+ other people in the US alone who are in the same boat as me. But that is only 5% of the diabetic population. There are approximately 18 million more people in the US who have type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is when the body does not produce enough insulin or does not utilize it properly. It is sometimes linked to diet and(or) lifestyle. There are different treatment options for type 2 diabetes depending on each case, including diet and exercise, oral medication and insulin.

The CDC estimates that there are an additional 7 million people in the US that have diabetes and do not know it. That is an astounding number. Any type of diabetes is no joke. But you can live a fulfilling life with diabetes as long as you get the medical care you need. Today is American Diabetes Association Alert Day. If you aren’t already living with diabetes, please take a few minutes to take the ADA’s risk test for type 2. And share it with your friends and family members. Early diagnosis is crucial. I was extremely fortunate to have parents who recognized the symptoms before I was even sick. And I am certain that has helped me maintain a life of diabetes with minimal complications up to this point.  Knowledge is power when it comes to anyone’s health.  And if you or someone you love happens to be diagnosed with diabetes, know that there is an extraordinary community waiting to help you.

Scary Days.

BG, Dexcom, Education

Low blood sugars don’t normally scare me. Sure I’ve had times where I have felt unwell enough to be a little concerned but generally speaking I don’t have a great fear of them. I don’t feel the urge to eat everything in sight to treat a low. I stick to my juicy juice box or maybe a soda or glucose tabs if I have nothing else available and I’m usually good in a reasonable amount of time. It could be because I’ve (thankfully) never lost consciousness, I’m not sure. I’ve also never lived alone. I went from living with my parents and sister to living with my hubby.

Two weeks ago however, I had an incident that had me in tears from fear. I was working from home so was alone in our apartment. It was not quite 2 hours post breakfast that the reading on my Dexcom caused me some concern.

I checked with my meter and confirmed I was actually dropping that much with a 76 mg/dL. I grabbed a juice box and also decreased my basal by about 50%. The double arrows on the Dexcom went away but I was still dropping. About 35 minutes, this is what I saw.

I started to get nervous at this point. Less basal, juice and I was still dropping. And feeling completely fine. That is what scared me the most I think. I have not been feeling my lows at all lately and I was afraid that since I wasn’t feeling low that all of a sudden I was going to be low enough to not be able to help myself. So I suspended my insulin and had another juice box. Another 15 minutes later I was still dropping.

I don’t know if it was the fear or the actual low but I started not to feel well. And so I got even more panicked. I decided to get the glucagon out and gave myself a shot in the leg. I didn’t know if I was overreacting but at the moment, by myself, it seemed like the right thing to do. I also thought I was going to regret it with BG in the 300’s but guess what? About 2 hours later, finally, I peaked at 165.

I was never so scared. I was never so relieved. I was never so thankful to have the right tools to help me monitor this blood sugar. I can only imagine what could have happened in this situation when I was first diagnosed 30 years ago without even a glucose meter to test with. Most days diabetes isn’t that scary. But some days it can be very scary.

JDRF Summit.

Advocacy, Community, Education, Events, Insulin pumps

This past weekend I had the great opportunity to attend the JDRF Type 1 Research Summit in Maryland hosted by the JDRF Capitol chapter.  I have attended diabetes events before but never one that was focused on research for advancements in management and a cure for type 1 diabetes.  I’m really glad I went.

Joe and I made a weekend trip out of it and did a little sight-seeing in DC.  That was nice.

Of course the first thing I spotted when getting out of the metro station was Crumbs bakery!  We didn’t indulge but just seeing the sign put a smile of my face 🙂 

We also got a glimpse of the Occupy DC movement that still resides near the capitol.

The summit itself was a day full of education to say the least.  We heard from presenters like Dr. Juan Dominguez-Bendala from the Diabetes Research Institute, Adam Brown from Close Concerns and diaTribe, Dr. Mark Atkinson and Dr. Desmond Schatz from the Diabetes Center of Excellence at the University of Florida, Dr. Stuart Weinzimer from Yale School of Medicine Pediatric Endocrinology, Cynthia Rice from JDRF Government Relations, Marie Schiller from Health Advances and T1D First and Gary Scheiner from Integrated Diabetes Services.  The moderator was Riva Greenberg, columnist at the Huffington Post.  I thought each and every one of the presentations were very informative and well demonstrated.

A lot of the guests spoke about the current and future research that is being done for type 1 diabetes.  Some in terms of the steps to get to the artificial pancreas and some in terms of getting to a cure.  I won’t pretend that I understood all the scientific or medical terminology but it did reiterate how extremely difficult it is to find a cure that will work.  I’ve been living with diabetes for 30 years already and for so many of those first years, my family and I heard that there would be a cure in the next 10 years or so.  For this reason and not being a pessimist, I don’t think I will see a cure in my lifetime.  However, hearing all that is being done in terms of research, even to improve the quality of diabetes management, does give me a little more hope to hang on to.  Especially after hearing Gary’s presentation about how much things have changed in the last 25 years.  Who remembers the autolet lancing device (shown below)?? That thing was horrible!

One highlight of attending the summit was not only did I get to spend time with some of my D friends, I got to meet some more in person!  I got to meet Tony, Colleen, Bennet and Kim and that was a huge plus to the weekend.

Another highlight was getting to see the t-slim insulin pump by Tandem in person at the exhibit hall.  I got to hold it and test it out (without being hooked up of course).  My initial opinion is that it is very sleek and slim – hence the name!  It holds 300 units of insulin which is a plus to a lot of people.  The touch screen makes moving around the menu and entering functions very simple and easy.  Tandem says the pump is waterproof for up to 3 feet for 30 minutes.  To me that’s not really water”proof” but better than nothing if getting caught in a downpour or accidentally coming in contact with a lot of water.  The only thing that makes me hesitant about the device is that it has to be charged like other electronic devices.  Charging something that is attached to you poses some doubts for me personally.

Overall it was a great experience and I applaud the JDRF Capital chapter for organizing a great event at no charge to the attendees.  I would highly recommend going to any future conference to anyone that has a loved one with type 1 diabetes in their life.

Not Always as Easy as Insulin.

BG, Education

On Christmas eve, we held a small get together at our place. We had enough food for about 25 people when there were only 6 of us! Even though I hadn’t indulged too much, my BG soared to about 250 mg/dL around dinner time. There was a delicious red velvet cake to be eaten afterward and I was upset that I was going to have to pass at the moment because of my high BG. One of my friends asked how long I would have to wait for it to come down. I told him it depends but it could possibly take a while. This got me thinking of how intricate managing glucose levels really is. To an outsider, it may seem like if a person with diabetes’ blood sugar is high they would take insulin and it would come back to normal promptly. Not always the case.

Then this morning, Scott pointed out a great post from Alexis over at I Run on Insulin. She talks about the complexities of managing BG more from the liver’s perspective but it resonated with me because of what I was thinking about a few days ago. Insulin is not the only thing missing from a person with diabetes’ body. Back when I was diagnosed, this wasn’t really part of the education given. We were taught to give daily insulin injections and sent on our merry way. But there are other hormones and functions affected by that attack of one’s beta cells. Science is not my thing. I work in Finance for Pete’s sake! I’m not going to pretend to completely comprehend the biology of it all but I do understand that insulin is not the only thing that regulates glucose from the blood to the body’s cells. There is glucagon which is another hormone secreted by the pancreas that causes the liver to convert stored glycogen into glucose when the blood glucose level is too low. Glucagon and insulin work together to keep glucose levels stable. And there is amylin, a partner of insulin. It is secreted in response to meals in order to maintain glycemic control.

In a person with diabetes, all three of these hormones do not work properly, if at all. Add that to the variables of taking human made insulin, through human made devices based on non perfect, human made decisions, it’s a wonder how our blood glucose levels are ever near normal! It’s never not always as easy as insulin.

Today.

Advocacy, Community, Education, Events

Diabetes. Everyone has heard of it. I’m pretty sure anyway. But not everyone knows the facts about it. Those of us living with it or who cares for someone living with type 1 diabetes know it all too well. Some of us who were diagnosed at an age young enough, only know life with diabetes. Some people remember life without it. Either way, all our lives changed dramatically at one point. Some of us use an insulin pump to dose our insulin. Some use multiple daily injections. Either way, we all need insulin to live. Some of us test our blood glucose levels 10+ times a day. Some test fewer times. Either way, we all need a glucose meter to live. Some of us SWAG (scientific wild ass guess) when it comes to carbohydrate counting. Some weigh every little bit of food. Either way, we all need to know the carbs in what we’re eating to live. Some of us rely on juice boxes, even as adults, to bring our blood sugars up. Some rely on candy or glucose tablets. Either way, we all need that sugar to live in those moments. Our diabetes may vary, but the necessities are the same. The lives of people living with diabetes are dependent on so many different things. And not everyone knows that. There are so many variables that can affect one’s blood sugar – not just food. And not everyone knows that. We can do everything by “the book” and still get undesirable results. And not everyone knows that.

Today on World Diabetes Day, the birthday of Frederick Banting who, along with Charles Best, first conceived the idea which led to the discovery of insulin in 1922, all of the diabetes online community are getting the word out. About how crucial it is to act on diabetes.   But if you’re outside of the community and you haven’t heard a lot about diabetes, listen up. Or if you’re tired of hearing about diabetes, don’t be. The facts are astounding but the true stories are even more.  You would want there to be much focus and awareness about it if you or a loved one were living with it. Trust me.

The Empire State Building is going to be lit blue and white tonight in honor of World Diabetes Day. I’m going to try and grab some pictures tonight!

**Update** I went to the Empire State Building on my way home from work last night to get a view of the blue lights.  To my dismay, they were not blue at all.  The schedule was changed in memory of Evelyn Lauder who was a strong part of the pink ribbon breast cancer awareness campaign.  While I find a tribute to her significant, I did not find it important enough to change the lights from the planned blue to pink. I think they could have changed the scheduled blue today for the Mary Poppins Broadway anniversary instead of changing yesterday.  Someone has their awareness priorities mixed up and was very disappointing.