Monthly Archives: February 2012

Paying for College and Diabetes…here’s help!

27 Monday Feb 2012

Posted by in diabetes

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

, , , ,

I’ve written before about the cost of diabetes, emotionally, physically and financially and my hope is to one day, feel like I’m treading water instead of drowning under medical bills. I’m glad that our boys are in public school right now, and my husband and I often have mock panic attacks when we hear parents talk about paying for college tuitions. Like Scarlet O’Hara, I’ll think about that another day!

However, many parents and future college students are busy figuring out how to pay for tuition come fall, and for students with diabetes, I have a great resource.

Founded in 2004 by a group of parents with diabetic children, The Diabetes Scholars Foundation provides 20-25, $5,000 college scholarships per year. President Mary Podjasek (who has a daughter and husband with type 1 diabetes) says the selection process is extremely competitive. One of the DSF recipients is Stony Brook University student Kaitlyn Karlya who agreed to speak with me about college life, and what it was like to receive a scholarship from the DSF.

Kaitlyn was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in September 1992 at the age of 2, and will be 22 in April, 2012.

1. Do you have a personal philosophy of living with chronic illness? By this I mean, what is your approach to diabetes management? less is more? constant blood sugar testing? moderation? live life to its fullest? etc. etc.

My personal philosophy of living with a chronic condition is that either you take control of it, or it will take control of you. Sometimes you will have days that you need to work harder at it that others, and sometimes you will have a stretch of time that you don’t need to make any adjustments. But if you accept that it’s going to be a lifelong adventure, then you can adjust and deal with the blood sugar swings well. Just live your life and realize that this is part of you, but it does not define who you are. Oh- and make sure you have a great support system.  And you can’t beat yourself up if you’re having a bad diabetes day.

2. Do you feel like diabetes has held you back at all when it comes to education and what are you studying?

Diabetes has not held me back from anything- there have had to be adjustments and patience, but I have done everything academically that I have ever wanted to.  Again, if you understand that this is going to be a part of you, you will incorporate diabetes into your life instead of your life into diabetes.

3. How did you hear about the diabetes scholars foundation? How has this recognition been helpful to you?

I heard about the Diabetes Scholars Foundation through the Children with Diabetes Conferences. Before I graduated from high school I applied for the scholarship and when I heard that I got it I thought it was great! It was such a help with all of the expenses college can accumulate. I go to the Children with Diabetes Conferences every summer and work with the children and answer any questions people may have. I also recently became an Animas Diabetes Hero and do monthly v-blogs to share my experiences.

 4. How do you manage your diabetes as a college student? What are the challenges of living away from home?

I graduate from Stony Brook University in New York in May, and although I did not live in a dorm, commuting has made me have to make some diabetes adjustments. The amount of time behind the wheel has made me make sure my “low box” is fully stocked in my car. When I know my class will be three hours long I can alter my basal as needed and make sure that I carry plenty of juice on me…

Thanks so much to Kaitlyn for sharing her story. I’ll be writing more about this topic (soon!) on the Diabetes Monitor Website.

To find out more about the DSF go to:

Diabetes Scholars Foundation

http://www.diabetesscholars.org

Diabetes Scholars Foundation
2118 Plum Grove Road
#356
Rolling Meadows, IL 60008

V: 312-215-9861 
F: 847-991-8739

Application Package, including Letters of Recommendations, must be received in full by May 15, 2012.

The winners of the 2011 scholarships will be telephoned by June 1, 2011.

Tattoo-ing my Omnipod

24 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by in diabetes

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

I recently interviewed Jessica Floeh, designer and founder of Hanky Pancreas about her cute and fashionable “wearable diabetes technologies.” Interested in the social and psychological issues of living with chronic illness, she describes her product line as:

“a series of fashionable products for wearable diabetes technologies. Current products consist of scarves, neck pieces, and decorative elements that envelop these devices. The goal is to ignite positive conversations and holistically improve health for those living with diabetes.”

Jessica and I had a great conversation about what it means for women to wear a piece of ‘durable medical equipment’ on our bodies every single day. She and I both wear the omnipod and she is working to create a design that will be omnipod appropriate. (Can’t wait!) Her current designs work on wired insulin pumps such as Medtronic. Jessica said she often feels conflicted when clients tell her they love her products because they are “a great way to hide the pump.” That’s not what she’s after. Jessica says she wants to address the current shame that comes with wearing a pump, and the desire to hide, rather than display, this life saving device.

This got me to thinking about my own love/hate with the omnipod. I love what it does for me, but I hate that I have to wear it.

It’s ugly. It’s plastic. It hurts sometimes. It sticks out under my clothes. It’s always there.

So I do my best to hide it. (Sorry Jessica!) and sometimes, I go without the omnipod in the summer when I’m wearing sleeveless dresses, tank tops and bathingsuits. I’m vain, pure and simple. But maybe not….maybe, instead of hiding and feeling embarrassed of my omnipod, I could make it look cool. I could make it pretty?

So I asked my son to tattoo my pod and here’s the result. I have to say I think it looks pretty cool. I even felt like showing it off this morning on my run, while I wore a sleeveless shirt because of this freaky warm weather, and it made me feel cool. Thanks Jessica for the idea, and thanks Will for the great art!

YA Fiction and Chronic Illness

19 Sunday Feb 2012

Posted by in diabetes

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

, , , , ,

I will always be a lover of YA books and just finished “The Probability of Miracles” by Wendy Wunder. The narrator is a young woman with cancer who spends the summer on the coast of Maine with her mom and younger sister in search of a ‘miracle.’ She has a great insight toward the end of the book that spoke to me, as a woman with diabetes, and I thought I’d share: (She is spending the night with her boyfriend for the first time)

“Later she realized she could be a princess. Not really a princess, but something other than a cancer patient. She could choose the cancer and the misery or the other, more wonderful parts of her personality. She was a dancer, a scholar, a sister, a veterinary assistant, a girlfriend. She could make the cancer into a much smaller part of her being. For the first time in a long, long time, the cancer was not everything.”

Well said Wendy Wunder!

 

Paleo Diet and Diabetes

18 Saturday Feb 2012

Posted by in diabetes

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

I just interviewed Dr. Steve Parker, author of the books: Conquer Diabetes and Pre-diabetes, the Low-Carb Mediterranean Diet, and The Advanced Mediterranean Diet, Lose Weight, Feel Better, Live Longer.  I wanted to talk with him about the Paleo diet (think caveman food: nuts, berries, meat, eggs and veggies) for my upcoming book, The Smart Woman’s Guide to Eating Right with Diabetes. He gave me a lot of great information about the benefits for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes in following this kind of eating plan and I’ll include bits of our conversation below:

What’s the paleo diet?

Fresh, minimally processed food.  Meat (lean or not? supermarket vs yuppiefied?), poultry, eggs, fish, leafy greens and other vegetables, nuts, berries, fruit, and probably tubers.

Non-paleo: highly processed, grains, refined sugars, industrial plant/seed oils, legumes, milk, cheese, yogurt, salt, alcohol.

Compared to the standard “diabetic diet” (what’s that?) and the Standard American Diet, switching to paleo should lower the glycemic index and glycemic load of the diet.  Theoreticlly, that should help with blood sugar control.

A well-designed low-carb paleo diet would likely have at least twice as much fiber as the typical American diet, which would also tend to limit high blood sugar excursions.

In general, I favor a carbohydrate-restricted paleo diet for those with diabetes who have already decided to “go paleo.”  I’m not endorsing any paleo diet for anyone with diabetes at this point—I’m still doing my research.  But if you’re going to do it, I’d keep it lower-carb.  It has a lot of potential.

Read more at Steve’s Blog: Paleo Diabetic, is a Stone Age Healthy for Diabetics?