Category Archives: Events

A Weekend You Don’t Want to Miss.

Community, Events

Last spring, I attended the Weekend for Women conference hosted by Diabetes Sisters. I didn’t know of many women who had gone before and didn’t know of a lot of women who were planning on attending. But it sounded like a great event and decided to go. Plus I had never been to North Carolina before and thought checking out Raleigh would be a pleasant experience. Boy was I right! Both the setting and the event itself were fabulous. I got to hang out with Allison and meet Sysy and Sarah and Brandy, of course. I also got to experience memorable moments with my diabetes sisters.

This year’s conference is being held in the same location in May. I am so excited that I registered today for the conference and booked the hotel. Now all I need is to find me some cheap airfare!  This year they are even adding a special program for partners of those living with diabetes, hosted by some awesome guys. I highly encourage any female with any type of diabetes or that even has a loved one with diabetes to attend this weekend for women.  You won’t be sorry. You will positively feel like part of a sisterhood.

Please check out this link for all the info: 2012 Raleigh Conference.  And I hope to see you there 🙂

Happy New Year!

Events, Holidays

As 2011 draws to a close (and I try to believe it’s that time of year again), I wanted to wish all of you a very happy new year.  My hopes for 2012, aside from happiness, health and prosperity, are advancements in diabetes technology as well as opportunities to attend more diabetes related events and keeping up with the advocacy that is so very important to us. 

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow ~Einstein

I wish you all the best in the new year.

*Stacey*

Retweet Mission.

Advocacy, Community, Events

A lot of people have called me the Retweet (RT) queen or that I can RT like no one’s business on Twitter 🙂  This RT’ing of mine has proven to be meaningful as it has landed me a Health Activist Award nomination from Wego Health. I was overjoyed when I got the email saying the following!

Your nomination details:
Award: Best in Show (http://info.wegohealth.com/best-in-show-2011)
Link: https://twitter.com/#!/PortblPancGrl/
Platform: Twitter
Reason: Stacey is the best RTer out there. She is seemingly always online, RTing links to blog posts to help get the word out!!

First and foremost, I want to sincerely thank whoever it was that nominated me. I feel truly honored, even if I don’t turn out to be the winner.

Second, I thought this would be the perfect time to put out there the reason for all of my RT’ing nonsense. There are a lot of diabetes bloggers out there. A lot. And while we all may have similar experiences from time to time, use similar products or have similar goals, everyone deserves to be recognized for the effort put forth in their blogging. That’s one of the things I am striving for when I RT so many posts – to give credit to that blogger for their writing. Is it possible to read every single post, every single day? Abso-freaking-lutely not. But regardless if I read every single one of the posts I RT, I’m still recognizing that it’s out there. Especially with the hopes that someone who may have missed it otherwise, can go on and read it. Which brings me to the other reason I RT like mad.

One of the things that I think I’m good at is sharing information with others. One of my biggest pet peeves is lack of communication. By anyone. I hate that feeling of being left out or not being in the know. So when I find out about something that I think every person with diabetes should know, I want to share. Isn’t that one of the things that what we, as diabetes advocates, aim for? To communicate the issues that are important to us? Well that is what I hope for when I RT. So I hope none of my followers out there find my RT’ing a nuisance. I’m not just simply RT’ing for the sake of RT’ing. I’m on a mission 😉

There are many more categories to nominate for in the Wego Health Activist Awards. Why don’t you go and nominate someone?

Memorable.

Emotions, Events

On this date 10 years ago, my life changed forever. But not in the way that something like diabetes can change it. It was good. The man I had been dating for 3 years, the man I had truly fallen in love with proposed to me.

I don’t recall exactly what day of the week it was but it was an ordinary work day. Or so I thought. Joe met me for lunch which wasn’t unusual at that time. He had brought me flowers which also wasn’t unusual. We ate at our favorite diner which was right across the street from my office. After lunch, he walked me back to my office building and I had picked up something at the newsstand to snack on later. When saying our goodbyes, he handed me a leather journal to read. Since my hands were full (flowers and snack), I told him I’d read it later. He kept insisting I read it then. I just thought he was being annoying; ha! I freed my hands by giving him something to hold and I opened the journal. Something caught my eye right away. It was written in but also in the middle of the pages, there was a hole that was burned though the pages of the book. And sitting in that hole was a ring. A diamond ring. I don’t recall my exact reaction when seeing this but I continued to read what he had written. And it was a poem where at the end, he asked me to be his wife! It was his grandmother’s ring that he gave me and November 29th is her birthday so this was carefully planned. All of this happened in the lobby of my building however I don’t even know if there were people watching or not. I was too captivated by the moment. Of course I said yes! I don’t think I cried, I think I was too mesmerized by what was going on. It was hard to say goodbye to him but I had to get back to work! I went up to my desk and announced to my boss and co-workers that I just got engaged. What a surreal feeling. My boss was super nice and let me go home so that I could celebrate with Joe and our families.

I was going to have a husband. I was going to be a wife. We were going to be married. One of the best days of my life. And 10 years later, this date still means the world to me. And so does he.

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. 

Refrigerator.

Community, Events

First off, I jumped on the bandwagon and set my blog background blue for National Diabetes Awareness Month 🙂 

Second, I had every intention of particitpating in the Juvenation blog carnival challenge however being that it’s already the 4th of the month, I guess you can say by now, I’ve been unsuccesful at the challenge 😦  But I am still going to use some of the blog prompts and hope that’s ok with the gals over at Juvenation!

Today’s prompt is “If you open up your fridge, what is the first thing you
would eat? And why did you pick that food? How many carbs does it
have?”

I’m trying to think of what is currently in my refrigerator.  Do I have to pick just one thing?  😉 The first thing that comes to mind is string cheese.  I’ve been eating them like crazy lately.  Those are actually zero carbs.  So maybe I’ll take two!  The next thing I would eat is a Chobani yogurt.  Preferably pineapple.  They are delicious!  One of those is 21 grams of carbohydrates.  To wash those down I’d drink either a Diet Dr. Pepper or some Diet Peach Snapple.  These are some of my favorite things to eat and drink which is why I chose them.  Not to mention healthy snack items.  (If the question was what would you eat from your cabinet, that would be a different story!  See: chips or cookies.)

Diabetes Art Day 2011

Community, Events

I’m so sorry for being late to the Diabetes Art Day party!  I’ve had some things going on (like getting a needle in my eye but that’s a whole other story and no excuse).

Anywho, here is my contribution.  And once again I must thank my wonderful hubby who helped me er, created this little piece of art 🙂  It’s the DOC truck!

Yes that is supposed to me driving 😉

Not sure if you can make it out but it has a specialized license plate that reads DOC!

Sisterhood.

Community, Emotions, Events

There are times living with diabetes that you can feel like the only person in the entire world who is dealing with the struggles of living with a 24/7, 365 days a year disease.  Then there is the online community who you can go to for support at any given time.  About anything.  Even better are the in person meet ups that often come out of interacting online.  Well take that up a notch and you have a whole weekend of time spent with about 100 women who all have diabetes of some type!  Now that is rewarding.

I had the honor of attending the Weekend for Women conference held by Diabetes Sisters this past weekend in Raleigh, NC.  There is something so touching about being in the presence of close to 100 women from 20 different states, all knowing what you go through living with diabetes.  It was a wonderful way to enlighten us about how best to take care of ourselves, reinforce that we are not alone and create a bond that is priceless.  I got to spend time with Allison, and got to meet Sysy, Sarah, Melissa, Melissa and so many others.

Friday night we were welcomed into the Sisterhood by Brandy Barnes, the founder of Diabetes Sisters.  We broke up into groups and had fun playing games to get to know one another.  And it was in fact that.  Fun.

There was a variety of speakers during the conference, all of whom were fantastic to listen to.  The first keynote speaker was Gloria Loring.  She has a son with type 1 diabetes, so although she doesn’t live with the disease herself, she is a very dedicated D mom.  She spoke about ways in which we can adapt to life living with diabetes through personal growth and shared some very touching personal stories.  She also sang for us which was a real treat with that voice of hers!

The conference offered breakout sessions where you could choose which one you wanted to attend.  I attended the Diabetes & Heart Disease discussion.  Dr. Thelsa Pulikkotil, chief cardiology fellow at UNC at Chapel Hill, offered some great information about what women with diabetes need to know about their risks for heart disease.  I’ll admit that some of it was a bit depressing, hearing those astounding risk statistics, but knowledge is power and from this I will be finding out my individual LDL, HDL and triglyceride numbers from my endo.  She added some humor to her presentation which I enjoyed.   I also attended the Living with Advanced Duration Diabetes session.  This was led by Connie Hanham-Cain, Claire M. Blum and Cindi Goldman-Patin all RN and CDE’s as well as part of the Diabetes Sisterhood.  Being in a room full of women who had a combined 500 years living with diabetes was inspirational to say the least!  It was again a bit depressing learning about some of the unspoken challenges and complications that can come from having diabetes a long time.  But it was also relieving to see so many woman who have some of these complications and are doing okay!  We also had a group discussion about Strategies to Improve Glycemic Control led by Elizabeth Politt.  She offered some good information about diet that is best for women living with diabetes.

The Celebration of Strength dinner was one of my favorite parts of the weekend.  It started with the reception room being decorated in orange.  It looked beautiful. (And I was very under dressed!)  Riva Greenberg spoke to us about flourishing with diabetes.  She shared her own story and we spoke to each other about challenges we had overcome.  It was very motivational to hear different stories about the challenges we overcome.  Every single woman in attendance was recognized for their time having diabetes and rewarded with their own Orange Will pin.  I was part of the Sisters with diabetes for 20-30 years.

We ended the dinner with some singing and dancing.  I will listen to Superwoman by Alicia Keys from now on and it will bring me back to that special moment shared by all of us.

Sunday morning started bright and early for the first annual Orange Will Walk.  We all came together, including the Mayor of Raleigh, and walked a mile in support of well, ourselves.  After the walk Mayor Meeker commended us for our efforts of educating and advocating for women with diabetes.  He presented Diabetes Sisters with a plaque and declared May 1st Orange Will Empower Women with Diabetes Day.  How awesome is that!

After the walk, we enjoyed a nice breakfast and a discussion about Sex, Relationships and Diabetes, led by Rhonda Merwin PhD and Lisa Honeycutt MA, LPC both from Duke University Medical Center.  This was a very personal topic which I think touched many of us.  We learned a lot about not only ourselves but about the role our significant others play in the daily routine of our diabetes care.

There was another breakout session and I attended Evolving Technology led by Kelly Close.  I’ve met Kelly before and always enjoy listening to her speak.  While I honestly didn’t learn too much that I didn’t already know about existing or upcoming technology products, it was great to hear Kelly’s perspective on medication and devices.  She shared her own experiences with things like the CGMS and other diabetes medications.  I admire what she does with diaTribe.  If you haven’t heard of it, I’d highly recommend checking it out.

Our last speaker was Ann Albright, Director of Division of Diabetes Translation Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  When I think of people working for the CDC, I automatically think of business-only, serious kind of people.  Ann to my pleasant surprise, is not like that at all.  Living with diabetes herself, she is passionate about creating better resources for people who have diabetes.  She suggested things we can do to improve these resources like getting more involved within our communities and even with our loved ones.  She was extremely down to earth, fun and you can feel her love for what she does through her presentation.  She ended with her love of the blues, playing Eric Clapton’s Change the World with us all on our feet, snapping, clapping and singing with her.  This is another song that I will never hear the same again.

Overall my experience at Weekend for Women was a memorable one.  There was so much that I gained from it, that I will take with me forever.  Thank you so much Brandy and the rest of the Diabetes Sisters team for organizing such a worthy event.  I’m really hoping I can make it again next year!

And a special thank you to my wonderful husband, who came along with me for the trip.  He was a great sport roaming the Raleigh neighborhood while I was in sessions.  And although he wasn’t with me during the conference itself, it was great to see his face during breaks and to have him by my side at night and during the Orange Will walk on Sunday.  It meant more than he will know to have him with me.

Diabetes and Fashion

Events

You may wonder based on the title of this post how the two relate.  You are probably thinking, diabetes and fashion? Well I am about to tell you how there can be a very special relationship between the two.

I was very fortunate to be able to attend a great event early last week.  It was hosted by the Diabetes Research Institute (DRI) and took place in Soho in Manhattan.  It has been quite a while since I have been to that part of the city and it took me a little while to find the right place I was supposed to be at!  But once there, it was a very enjoyable evening.

The purpose of the event was to introduce a special top designed by Tibi owner, Amy Smilovic, for the benefit of the DRI.  Attendees enjoyed some champagne, light snacks and discounted shopping for some beautiful clothing.  The highlight of the evening was when Lindsey Inserra of the DRI presented Amy with flowers in honor of her commitment to contributing to the research of type 1 diabetes.  $100 of the purchase of each top will be donated to the DRI.  You can see for yourself just how lovely they are.

Not only did I get to meet some of the important people who work for DRI, I also had the honor of hanging out with Lindsey, Allison and Kelly.  And that made the evening even better 🙂

And thank you Amy and Tibi for what you’re doing!!

Tibi owner/designer Amy Smilovic and Lindsey Inserra

Fellow diabetes bloggers, advocates and friends Kelly, myself and Allison

(Photos courtesy of Natasha over at the DRI, who also was a great part of the evening by the way)

In Providence

Events

This past weekend I had one of the most amazing experiences ever.  I attended my first ever TCOYD – Taking Control of Your Diabetes conference in Providence, RI.  It was my first time to Rhode Island and the trip via Amtrak wasn’t bad at all.

Tina and I got there the day before since it began pretty early on Saturday and I’m glad we did that since we got to see some of the city.  Or at least what’s around the conference center 🙂  We enjoyed a dinner up at Federal Hill after walking what seemed like forever to pick a restaurant.  Since every other one was Italian cuisine, that’s what we went with.  And it was a very nice place.

We got up early on Saturday morning, watched the news for a bit since the big story was reflecting on the 9th anniversary of 9/11 and then we headed to the conference.  I wasn’t sure what to expect.  The first area we saw was the Health Fair which had many vendors of diabetes supplies setting up.  It kind of reminded me of the ADA Expo in Jacob Javitz Center here in NY.  But then we went in for the opening session.  And listened to Dr. Steve Edelman give his presentation.  And laughed.  A lot.  And so much of it hit home.  This man’s presentation was probably one of the best I’ve ever seen.  The following presentation was just as good and it made me so glad that I made the trip.  I’ll be honest that I didn’t really learn much that I didn’t already know.  But there is something so comforting, so reassuring to hear others who are living with diabetes talk about loving your life with diabetes and the quote of the day “Live first be diabetic second”.  Also the guest speaker during lunch was has such a moving story that it made me want to go out and move mountains!

I didn’t get to score any free goodies from any of the vendors since I pretty much have every latest gadget that’s out there but it was still nice to walk around and take a look at things and have a friendly talk with the Animas reps.  What did make this day even better was the company I had throughout the event.  I got to hang out with some pretty great people (beside Tina) like Kerri, Ashley & her cool dad, Karen & P, Bernard, Faye & Mr. Sugar Bump, Val & her hubby, Kelly and not to mention Charlie Kimball.

It was such a rewarding experience and am so glad I had the opportunity to go.  I would highly recommend experiencing what TCOYD has to offer to any of you reading.  And I am SO excited because I just found out today that they will be holding a conference in Albany, NY next year.  I’ve marked my calendar already! 🙂