Ahhh!  Watermelon and cantaloupe...the fruits of summertime!  It seems like the summer just got started and I'm already buying back-to-school supplies for my daughter.  I guess I should eat up the watermelon and cantaloupe now...before their peak season is over!

For me, the theme of this summer has been "MAKING CONNECTIONS HAPPEN."  Why? you ask. Well, the last few months have been wildly busy with lots of exciting new projects for DiabetesSisters-- all of which involve new, innovative ways to connect women with diabetes!  If you are like me, you have wondered on more than one occasion, "Where are ALL of the women with diabetes?  Why don't I ever see/meet any of them?"

To make it easier to identify and connect with other women with diabetes and to provide a "visual" of the vast number of women in the world who are currently living with diabetes, theFacing Diabetes Together MAP is currently being constructed and will be available on the DiabetesSisters website soon!  We will send a follow-up email when it is available.  I encourage you to post your profile so that we can light up the entire world with DiabetesSisters' dots!  In another effort to make it easy for women with diabetes to connect, I have been very busy at work on the new and highly interactive SisterMatch program!  Look for the official launch this Fall!  PODS Meetups also provide opportunities for our members to connect with peers.  For this program, I have been working with Micromass Communications to put together 13 Topic Modules for the PODS Leaders to use at all PODS Meetup.  I am extremely excited to roll out these modules at our PODS Leader training scheduled for August 25, 2011!  If you are interested in participating, please contact Brittney (PODS Meetup Administrator) at brittney@diabetessisters.org or Kelli (PODS Meetup Coordinator) at kelli@diabetessisters.org as soon as possible to allow enough time for you to prepare for the training.   In case you haven't noticed, we have PODS Meetups popping up everywhere now-- and I do mean everywhere! Not only do we have meetups in the US, but we are scheduled to take them global this Fall with our first PODS Meetup in Canada and South Africa!  How exciting!  This is why it is so important for every woman to post her profile on the Facing Diabetes Together MAP...so that we can identify locations for new PODS Meetups or Conferences.  The next one could be near you!

Founder/CEO of DiabetesSisters

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"Like" DiabetesSisters on Facebook | Like Orange:Will on Facebook

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I suppose it's not unusual for a mother to call her children her "greatest accomplishment." But in the case of people like "us," I think it undoubtedly applies. My broken body managed to produce threeperfectly formed, perfectly healthy,perfectly unique daughters (currently ages 8, 7 and 4). It still amazes me.

 

I've had diabetes for 26 years, and over those years, its presence in my life has shaped who I am. And it influences the woman I still hope to become.

Although my parents helped me manage my diabetes when I was first diagnosed at age 12, I mostly floated along as best I could on shots of insulin and that horrible diabetic exchange diet. My A1Cs varied wildly - I know I had a few in the 12-percent range as a teenager. When I committed to testing my blood sugars more often in my early 20s, my control improved dramatically.

 

After a low in 1999 during which I lost consciousness and my husband literally save my life with an Glucagon injection - the only time that's happened - my insurance approved me for an insulin pump. What freedom! I credit the pump as a major contributor to my successful pregnancies. My A1Cs have been decent for the last 10 years, although now they're starting to creep higher than I would like. I'm ...working on that. Always.

 

There's just no turning away from the D. But Tracy without diabetes would not be Tracy. Diabetes is part of what makes me the woman I am - the one who will never carry a cute small handbag, the one who runs her kid's blood sugar when she acts grouchy or pees one too many times, the one who keeps shelves of food in her house worthy of Hoarders. But the D also helps to make me an empathetic friend, a mother who sees possibility and not restriction, a chef who can whip up a mean marinara in 20 minutes while her blood sugar is dropping, and a person who finds a moment of grace in each day.

 

I found DiabetesSisters one night in 2010, as I was searching for "women and diabetes" on the Web. Despite a good personal support system - including my awesome husband and my one-of-a-kind sister who has already promised me a kidney should I need one - I had been feeling alone with my diabetes. DiabetesSisters was exactly what I was looking for. Within a couple of months, I had signed up to attend the Charlotte PODS meetings and made a great new friend who truly "gets" me - and who happens to have diabetes. Attending the 2011 DS Annual Conference really encouraged me and gave me a new appreciation for the many ways in which women like "us" show our strength every single day.

Diabetes forces me to contemplate my life. How can I set an example for my daughters about how to live courageously in the face of adversity? How can I make today memorable? How can I be empathetic to others who have chronic health issues? I see this as a blessing.

 

I look forward to meeting more of my Sisters in the months and years to come! 

 

TEAM DIABETESSISTERS at the First Annual orange:will Awareness Walk

• WHERE HAVE YOU WORN YOUR orange:will T-SHIRT? The stories of women connecting through their orange:will t-shirts are beginning to pour in! So, if you are going on vacation this summer, be sure to take your orange:will t-shirt and pose for a photo. Post your photo at  www.orangewill.org with your name and the location of the photo. TheFarthest Location (from Durham, NC) and the Most Creative will receive a Target gift certificate. Contest ends August 31, 2011.
• Have you visited our new Facebook page? Please check it out and click "like". Our goal is to have 500 members connected to our Facebook page by the end of the summer!

Our national conference series are a great way to create lifelong friendships and while learning about diabetes management.

• 2011 SAN DIEGO, CA

  DiabetesSisters is partnering with Behavioral Diabetes Institute in San Diego, CA to bring the Weekend for Women Conference Series to the West Coast! The second Conference of the year will be held in San Diego, CA on October 7 - 9, 2011; we already have a packed agenda for the weekend! Click here to register for the kick-off San Diego Conference! A limited number of scholarship applications will be available on the DiabetesSisters website. CLICK HERE to complete the scholarship application form forthe San Diego Conference.  The conference will take place at San Diego Bayfront Hilton.  Reserve your room TODAY to receive the discounted group rate. * Limited number of rooms available at group rate price.
• 2012 RALEIGH, NC -    Mark your calendars for the 2012 Weekend for Women Conference in Raleigh, NC on May 18 - 20, 2012. Please email us to let us know if you are interested in your spouse/partner attending our "Partner's Perspective Program" during the conference.

Lindsey was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes seven years ago.  She didn't know anyone else with diabetes until moving to North Carolina for graduate school and finding DiabetesSisters. After receiving a DiabetesSisters brochure, she attended the first Weekend for Women Conference in 2010, then followed up with attendance at the local PODS Meetups and Quarterly Gatherings. For the first time, Lindsey found social and medical support and was thrilled to meet other women with diabetes.

 

The cohesiveness of the Sisterhood inspired her to join the 2011 Conference Planning Committee as the Team Leader of the Speakers/Sessions Team.   For everyone at DiabetesSisters, it was a wonderful to see Lindsey come "out of her shell" and become more connected with the diabetes community.  It was also wonderful to have her on board to plan engaging sessions that were enjoyed by every conference attendee. Thanks to Lindsey's contribution to making the 2011 Conference such a successful event for our members!