| | | September 2009
DiabetesSisters September Newsletter
| Dealing with setbacks...keep a positive attitude!
Greetings DiabetesSisters Members, Facing setbacks - it's all about attitude! This month has been full of a few setbacks personally, not so much related to diabetes but still affecting me on a daily basis (I have plantar fasciitis and it is PAINFUL!) Unfortunately I've been letting it affect my attitude. After having a conversation with a friend I've vowed to take a more positive attitude to my situation. I'd like to share his story with you all (because yes, we can learn a thing or two from our male counterparts!). My friend is someone that I met on my weekly Sunday bike rides. Our group gets lunch after our 2 hour rides at a local sandwich shop. Well, this one Sunday I got the usual question, "what's that on your arm" (referring to my insulin pump). That starts my normal diabetes conversation only today my friend John interjected with his story of overcoming Cancer, 4 times. John began battling a brain tumor at age 8. The thing that impressed me so much about his story was the attitude he had. As soon as he was admitted for intensive treatment he asked his doctor, "What's the least amount of time someone has spent in the hospital with my condition?" The doctor replied, "13 days. That is the minimum amount of time that you can spend here as we have to observe you for that long after treatment. However, most people are here much longer than that." My friend was discharge from the hospital in exactly 13 days. During his "observation time" he gave his blood samples to the nurses on time, was as active as he could be in a hospital setting and most importantly he maintained a very positive attitude. He wasn't going to let cancer slow him down and he especially was not going to let it affect his happiness. The research is out there and it shows that by having a good attitude you can positively affect your health, healing time, and all around well-being. I encourage all of you to accept whatever life brings you with the best attitude possible! Until next month! Laura Ely Communications Coordinator | The Big Health Care Debate What you need to know as a woman with diabetes, by Nancy Mayer, Attorney at Law The current discussion revolving around a new health care plan should be of great interest to anyone with diabetes. A few things apply no matter what. Diabetes is a disease that once you have it you have it for life, It will always be considered a pre-existing disease condition when applying for health insurance or life insurance. People with diabetes do not have to guess whether they will need significant health care. People with diabetes know that they will have significant medical expenses, for life. Not only is diabetes a life long disease but it makes one susceptible to other significant medical conditions. As a person with diabetes, you should be paying close attention to the debate as you have much at stake. Allowing people with pre-existing conditions access to heath insurance will give families the freedom to change jobs as opportunities appear. Having medication covered by insurance will allow people more options to follow the best health care routine. One non-partisan source of information is Factcheck.org. Many individuals do not look for better jobs because nothing is worth giving up their current insurance when a pre-existing health condition may make impossible to get insurance from their new employer. I also know people who scrimp on their medication because of a tight budget and their insurance does not cover medications. These individuals put themselves at risk of coping with symptoms that they could avoid or of becoming more ill Please become informed on the issues surrounding the health care bill, because, as a person who has a life-long medical condition, a new health care bill could provide greater assurance that you will have your health care needs met, no matter if you are employed or where you are employed. (Click Here to read more!) | The DiabetesSisters Sister Spotlight!
Meet Courtney Benefiel...  Do you ever wonder what it is that diabetes has done to us...like, really done to us? In my opinion, diabetes creates several different kinds of people. One type includes the people like the woman I used to be -- a.k.a. “Negative Nancy.” These people moan and groan about how horrible the diabetes is and all the things it keeps us from doing. Then there are the people like my best friend, Laura, who almost always has a positive mental attitude (PMA). Finally, there are those like the current me- which is a mixture of Negative Nancy and Laura molded into one. Sometimes I have a PMA and at other times am still moaning and groaning. I spent the majority of my life with diabetes moaning and groaning. I thank my family and doctors for that since they're the ones that said I couldn't do sports. They thought sports were out of the question because we had a hard time controlling my blood sugars when I was young. So during my childhood I gave up the idea of being an athlete. Then came age 26 (I'd had diabetes for 15 years at that time), which was a turning point for me. I was resolved to no longer accept "no" as an option. I decided that, no matter what, I was going to be an athlete. Specifically, I decided to be a cyclist. I have no clue why I chose cycling. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that, when I was little, my papa took us on adventures that almost always involved bikes. And so in 2007, I started cycling. When I graduated from college my gift to myself was a vacation to CA to ride in the Long Beach Tour de Cure, and when I was done, I said "that was cool, I want to do one in every state". And thus began my cycling adventure. In the past 3 years I've traveled to 8 different states and ridden in 9 Tour de Cures. Through traveling to the different states and cycling in various Tour de Cures, I've met so many other diabetic cyclists. I found other people out there like me (which was always a problem as a little kid with diabetes – I knew no one with whom I shared the disease). I found other adrenaline craving, adventure seeking, cyclists that have type 1 diabetes. It was the best thing to ever happen in my diabetic life. It's helped me grow in so many ways as well. I learned from the positive aspects of those I encountered an implemented it into my own life. The somewhat positive attitude I have today is the work of many of these diabetic friends rubbing off on me. My athleticism, it's mostly intrinsic, but it's been expanded by my diabetic friends into much more than just cycling (I’ve since tried a few triathlons and completed one marathon). My willingness to take care of the diabetes on a level I've never done before is definitely influenced by my peers with diabetes. I’ve now come to realize that one really can't be an athlete if you're not going to take care of yourself. It's amazing what one positive change in life can lead to. See you at YOUR local Tour de Cure! | DiabetesSisters in Action at the AADE Conference Positive Feedback from our CDEs! This year's American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) proved to be very exciting for DiabetesSisters. Founder/Executive Director, Brandy Barnes flew down for the conference and was joined by Communications Coordinator, Laura Ely later in the week. According to Brandy, "DiabetesSisters booth was jumping with people and excitement the whole time. Everyone was curious about us since this was the first time we have exhibited there. Some even said that they were told by other educators that they 'had to stop by our booth to hear about all that we are doing to help women with diabetes.' Others said they had our name circled in their program as an organization that they wanted to check out. We got lots of positive feedback on our mission (and how needed it is), our soothing color scheme, the layout of the website, and how pretty our t-shirts are. Needless to say, we sold lots of t-shirts. One woman bought 10 t-shirts! She said her group of friends with diabetes had always referred to themselves as “DiabetesSisters” and she was glad there was an organization for them now!" DiabetesSisters also announced the first annual "Weekend for Women." This conference will occur in conjunction with the TCOYD conference on May 22nd and 23rd in Raleigh, NC (www.tcoyd.org). Mark your calendars and look out for more detailed information on the event in next month's newsletter!! Brandy Barnes and Author, Hope Warshaw  | | | | News Briefs, Updates & Events!
| | DiabetesSisters became a federally recognized 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization on January 21st, 2009. All donations are now tax deductible.
September's featured Blog of the Month: The Pregnancy Blog by Michell, visit her blog to read more about how she handled her gestational diabetes through her second pregnancy. Congratulations Michell!
The 2010 Weekend for Women Conference hosted by DiabetesSisters and TCOYD will take place on May 22-23 in Raleigh, NC. We're now looking people to help us plan this exciting event. Email info@diabetessisters.org and stay tuned for more details to come!
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