On our way to her weekly ballet class, Summer began to tell me about a conversation she had with her peers at the after-school program.  According to her, a group of kids asked her if her mother worked and she replied, “yes.”  Then, they asked where her mother worked.  She explained that her mother started and runs an organization for women with diabetes.  They asked why she “started an organization for women with diabetes when she doesn’t have diabetes” and Summer replied, “My mom DOES have diabetes!”  An argument then ensued with the other students proclaiming, “She (your mother) can’t have diabetes.  She doesn’t even look like she has diabetes!”  I am proud of my daughter’s response: “People who have diabetes don’t look a certain way!  And I know my mom has diabetes because I see her check her blood sugar every day!  If you don’t believe me, you can ask my mom when she picks me up!”  After explaining this story to me, she looked at me those innocent little six-year-old eyes and said, “Why would they say that?  I don’t know what they meant about you not looking like you have diabetes.”  Then, I had to explain one of the harsh realities of living with diabetes ….dealing with stereotypes!  I explained that some people mistakenly think that all people with diabetes are overweight.  (She looked at me like I was crazy!)  She replied (quite defensively), “There are lots of people with diabetes who aren’t overweight!!  Like at the Planning Committee Meetings, Shandra or Kelli, or none of the other women are overweight!”  I smiled to myself, happy that Summer has received the right messages about living with diabetes and has not fallen victim to the stereotypes! I was also quite proud of her assertiveness in arguing with the other kids.  She is very protective of me! J

 

It’s in these small everyday conversation an educated child can educate other children about the realities of diabetes.  I have talked to women who feel that they are protecting their children by not talking about their diabetes, but I think much more can be achieved by talking about our diabetes with our children and serving as a positive role model.

 

I’m proud of my little Summer B for being a strong advocate for me and other women with diabetes!

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Well, last week had its ups and downs. ….I went to Washington, DC and met with some awesome women like Lisa Tate of WomenHeart and Diana K. of the American Diabetes Association.  The Omnipod DID require a bit more work in getting through airport security on the way to DC.  I had to step to the side and let them see the pod, they had to rub my hands with some kind of cloth (that apparently testing for something), and I had to answer a few questions.   The weather was relatively mild while there, so that was one check under “Good”.  However, getting around in DC requires lots of cab rides and I had one of the worst cab rides of my life on my way over to the ADA National Office.  You know it’s going to be a bad experience when you get into a cab and the cab driver repeatedly asks you, “Should I turn here?”  and then asks YOU to put the address of the location in his GPS for him.  Apparently, his vision was also poor, so driving in the 5pm rush hour with glare of the sunset, was horrendous.  I’ve never had the horn blown at the car I’m riding in so many times or come close to hitting so many other cars….and I’ve ridden in my share of scary taxis!  To top it all off, when we finally got there – 10 minutes late—the guy says, “What time would you like for me to pick you up?”  Ummmm…No thank you!

 

I learned a lot about the politics of the rail system on my train ride home.  (Yes, I decided to ride the train home since I have heard so many nice things about how relaxing it is and how much work can be accomplished using the free wi-fi on board.  Unfortunately, I didn’t know that ALL trains do not have wi-fi and the one that I was on DID NOT have wi-fi.  On top of that, we got stuck behind a broken down freight train for over an hour and a half and we were only 40 minutes from home!  I found out that CSX owns the track and Amtrak is little significance to them.  Therefore, Amtrak is at the mercy of the freight trains that make more money for CSX.  That was not a lesson I wanted to learn on my first train ride!

 

Although there were some not-so-great experiences over the last week, I still have a great deal to be thankful for.  After all, there is an awesome Conference and Walk coming up soon and it is coming together quite nicely!  All speakers have been confirmed, the walk route has been verified, and the prized for the top individual fund raisers have been secured—iPad, custom-fitted running shoes, an exercise bike, designer sunglasses, and a 2-night hotel stay.  If you haven’t registered for the Conference yet, you can do so here: http://www.diabetessisters.org/events/nationalconference/2012-conference-raleigh-nc.  If you haven’t registered yourself, your friends, your family, or your co-workers for the Walk, you can do so here: http://www.diabetessisters.org/walk.  Angela Hampton from ABC 11 will be onsite to emcee the Walk on Sunday morning!

 

Here's to a better week this week!

 

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This week, I'd like to share another perspective from a husband of a woman with diabetes.  This time Sysy Morales, a fellow DiabetesSister, is sharing an interview with her husband, Alex Munoz.  Alex is working with my husband, Chris, and David Edelman of Diabetes Daily to create The Partner's Perspective Program at this year's Conference.  This will provide some insight into why a program for Partners/Spouses/Significant Others is important!  Also- take note-- he is wearing ORANGE!  I already love the guy and I've never even met him!

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Yes, I watched the MTV Real Life episode on diabetes this week. As soon as I realized it was on, I couldn’t be pried from the television.  I am always interested in seeing how the media represents people with diabetes—and I’m always hopeful that they will get it right!  I have to say that I thought it was a pretty realistic representation of diabetes—from a young adult woman who had to move home to pay for a new insulin pump (because she did not have health insurance) to a male college student who seemingly “went wild” with alcohol once he got to college to a young woman who was diagnosed with diabetes on the same day she found out she was pregnant.  The pregnant woman’s story was the most disturbing to me because the viewers watched her go to her doctor appointments and get berated by her doctor about her watching her diet and taking her meds in order to get her blood sugars down.  She was told that she would have to start taking shots—if she didn’t get her diabetes under control.  (FYI-She was either told she had type 2 or gestational diabetes—it wasn’t clear which one.)  We then saw the woman struggle with getting her blood sugars under control and being induced three weeks early because of her baby’s large size.   At the end, the viewers are told that the doctors eventually changed her diagnosis to Type 1.  As an advocate for women with diabetes, this scenario is absolutely UNACCEPTABLE!  There should be procedures in place to make accurate diagnoses of women- and all women with diabetes should go through the appropriate testing (as simple as a c-peptide test to see if the pancreas is working or not).  This young woman was blamed and shamed about her lack of blood sugar control when, in reality, it didn’t matter how many pills she took – the pills were never going to get her blood sugars under control!  She needed insulin all along and she needed good diabetes education- including carbohydrate counting.  If there was any way I could reach this young woman, I would gladly offer her a scholarship to attend our Weekend for Women Conference because she is someone who could have greatly benefitted from a support network like DiabetesSisters when she was pregnant-- and now!

The other hot topic this week was Paula Deen and her announcement that she was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes three years ago.  This created much controversy in both the media and the diabetes world.  Personally, I don’t think it would benefit anyone for me to bash Paula Deen and I have no desire to bash her.  After all, DiabetesSisters is all about empowering and celebrating women with diabetes and here is certainly a woman who could use our support.  It is much more challenging for a woman to come out about her diabetes than for a man.  Think about it—if it were an overweight male chef who announced that he had diabetes, would there have been such a backlash?  I really don’t think so…In fact, Oprah’s chef, Art Smith, who owns a famous restaurant in Chicago, was close to 100 pounds overweight when he was working as Oprah’s personal chef and announced that he had diabetes.  He has since lost 85 pounds…but my point is—Does anybody even remember this being in the news?  Probably not.  He and his recipes were featured on Oprah’s Show regularly, and I ate at his restaurant in Chicago and I can vouch that it was not anything close to health food.  Again, it was food that is reserved for special occasions.  In today’s world, it seems much more acceptable for a man to be “large” than for a woman to be large.  And we wonder why there aren’t more female role models (celebrities, athletes, etc.)???  Imagine how hard it is to announce that you have diabetes…especially type 2 diabetes…and all of the blame and shame that is hurled your way?  Would anybody willingly put themselves through that?  Unfortunately, I think the Paula Deen backlash has really hurt our opportunities for having more Type 2 female role models.  Paula is human just like us and it sounds like she probably had to deal with her diabetes diagnosis without the support of another person who understood what she was going through—a person with diabetes.

 

So, in the end, I say, “We welcome you to the Sisterhood, Paula Deen….flaws and all!”  

 

After all, none of us are perfect and we are all responsible for our own health/diet decisions.  I know that I should not eat Paula Deen’s food every day- it should be reserved for special occasions. Just because something is available doesn’t mean you have to eat it.  Just because the McDonald’s is by your house, it doesn’t mean that you have to eat it every day.  It’s all about moderation, people!  I feel like America has become a place where everyone looks for someone else to blame (or sue) when something isn’t right in their life.  Often times, they need to look inside themselves when things are right.

 

I hope that Paula uses this incredible opportunity and platform to educate herself and the public about diabetes.  I'm also hopeful that she will turn her diabetes diagnosis into a positive experience and show the world that diabetes will not stop her- nor will her critics!

 

(Note: Although I planned to post an interview from Alex Munoz--Sysy Morales' husband--this week, due to the flurry of activity in the diabetes world this week, the interview will be posted on next week's blog.  So check back soon!)

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