Why I Am a Diabetes Advocate: Allison Holdgreve

This week, advocates from around the country will convene in Washington, D.C., for the biannual American Diabetes Association® Capitol Hill Advocacy Day. What does it mean to be a Diabetes Advocate? Let’s hear from Association volunteer Allison, who will be joining us!

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When I was 6 years old, my life changed FOREVER when I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Now I am 11, and FOREVER is a long time.

I still play competitive soccer and the flute, and I am a straight-A student. But it isn’t the same. FOREVER tethered to diabetes, the many pricks and sticks. FOREVER? REALLY?

Each day I have to check my blood sugar at least 6 to 10 times. I have to measure all my food and figure out how many carbohydrates there are in what I eat. It’s a lot for a kid, or anyone, to manage.

I do have a different life than my friends, but I am NOT different than them. I have to think every hour, every minute, every second of every day about how what I am about to do will affect my glucose. My friends can go and run around or go to sleep and never think that something bad might happen. But with my diabetes, it’s something I cannot control; it’s something that could send me to the hospital in an instant.

My first thoughts about a friend’s party are not about the fun. I think, “Do I have my meter? Enough strips? Juice? Do I have enough insulin in my pump?” I wonder what kind of cake and food will be there. Will my mom be there to help me, or will I have to teach another adult about my diabetes? I cannot NOT think about these things because they keep me alive. NOT healthy, but ALIVE.

I’m an 11-year-old making sure I have the things I need to survive each and every day. I was told this was FOREVER at the age of 6. FOREVER with insulin and checking my glucose.

Five years later, and I don’t want this forever. The ups and downs, the emotions I deal with, the looks and stares of people when I prick my finger and when they ask if I have a “pager” on my hip. The stress I see in my parents when they check my glucose in the middle of the night, the doctors’ visits and all the medical bills they pay.

FOREVER just seems wrong to me.

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Just because you’re not joining Allison on the Hill doesn’t mean you can’t help. Anyone who is affected by diabetes can be an advocate and take part Capitol Hill Advocacy Day from afar.

Please sign our petition to Congress at http://ift.tt/1ToIy54. Together, we can win this battle!

The Association also asks that you join our Thunderclap and dedicate your social media status to help spread the word about our advocacy efforts. By inviting your friends and family to participate we can ignite a dialogue about the importance of preventing, treating and curing diabetes.

Source Diabetes Stops Here http://ift.tt/1qtXt2L

Weight-Loss Surgery May Help Control Type 2 Diabetes in Long Run

Title: Weight-Loss Surgery May Help Control Type 2 Diabetes in Long Run
Category: Health News
Created: 4/4/2016 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 4/5/2016 12:00:00 AM

Source MedicineNet Diabetes General http://ift.tt/1MRsAit

Why I Am a Diabetes Advocate: Michelle Foster

This week, advocates from around the country will convene in Washington, D.C., for the biannual American Diabetes Association® Capitol Hill Advocacy Day. What does it mean to be a Diabetes Advocate? Let’s hear from Association volunteer Michelle, who will be joining us!

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My name is Michelle and I’m currently a (SNAP– ED) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Program Assistant and Family Nutrition Educator with the Virginia Cooperative Extension Family Nutrition Program.

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes around 15 years ago.  Along with that diagnosis I also received information about the Association from the doctor who began treating me at that time. I was encouraged to get involved with local Association activities and for that I am and will always be grateful.  I have learned so much over the years both from my involvement as well as from the doctor who not only treated my diabetes but who also helped me to learn about how it affected me personally and what I needed to do to manage it effectively.

Today I manage my diabetes with an insulin pump and carbohydrate counting. I am also currently a member of the Association’s National Advocacy Committee and its Volunteer Engagement Workgroup. I was the president of the Hampton Roads (Virginia) Community Leadership Board from 2010 until 2013. I have also started a Diabetes Support Group in my local area.

The cost of diabetic complications continues to skyrocket! And like a lot of people, living with diabetes is a burden for me, as there are always prescriptions that need filling, lab tests to be done and frequent medical appointments to keep. However, the absolute worst are the constant hospitalizations due to the complications.

I am worried that I may have to take an early retirement if I cannot keep the hospitalizations to a minimum. I will continue to fight, take my medication and do whatever else is necessary to try and prevent this from happening.

Diabetes knows most of my family members by name. Its complications have already robbed me of several relatives. I am truly TIRED of missing days and weeks at a time, away from both work and my family. If I can’t work, I will not be able to continue to pay for my medications.

Please help us find a cure for this disease and put a stop to the ongoing suffering that it creates. We need funds allocated for continued research and programs.

We cannot do this alone! Together is the only way for us to make this happen. Please join us in our fight!

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Just because you’re not joining Michelle on the Hill doesn’t mean you can’t help. Anyone who is affected by diabetes can be an advocate and take part Capitol Hill Advocacy Day from afar.

Please sign our petition to Congress at http://ift.tt/1ToIy54. Together, we can win this battle!

The Association also asks that you join our Thunderclap and dedicate your social media status to help spread the word about our advocacy efforts. By inviting your friends and family to participate we can ignite a dialogue about the importance of preventing, treating and curing diabetes.

Source Diabetes Stops Here http://ift.tt/1Tz2ceU

Diabetes Meds Vary in Safety and Effectiveness, Study Shows

Title: Diabetes Meds Vary in Safety and Effectiveness, Study Shows
Category: Health News
Created: 3/31/2016 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 4/1/2016 12:00:00 AM

Source MedicineNet Diabetes General http://ift.tt/1Rv1XQx

Type 1 Diabetes Linked to Epilepsy Risk, Study Suggests

Title: Type 1 Diabetes Linked to Epilepsy Risk, Study Suggests
Category: Health News
Created: 3/31/2016 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 4/1/2016 12:00:00 AM

Source MedicineNet Diabetes General http://ift.tt/21Y7uk5

Why I Am a Diabetes Advocate: Chuck Malloy

This week, advocates from around the country will convene in Washington, D.C., for the biannual American Diabetes Association® Capitol Hill Advocacy Day. What does it mean to be a Diabetes Advocate? Let’s hear from Association volunteer Chuck Malloy, who will be joining us from Idaho.

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Call it the grace of God, or dumb luck. Either way, I will take it.

When a person’s health starts to go downhill in his or her 50s, it often serves as a prelude to an early death. My health was on a free-fall during my early 50s—and there was no question that my life was in peril.

During my time as an editorial writer with the Idaho Statesman from 1999 to 2003, I remember frequently going to work with the feeling that my head was in a fog. It wasn’t anything that anyone noticed, and I attributed my situation to heavy stress and long work hours.

As it turned out, this “silent killer” also called type 2 diabetes was taking its cruel toll. In retrospect, it was amazing that I could write anything that made sense, let along thought-provoking editorials for a capital city newspaper. Meanwhile, the effects of diabetes were eating at me in other ways. I noticed my eyesight was deteriorating over time and, finally, in December 2003, I had to leave the paper because I couldn’t see well enough to read letters on my desk.

Blindness was only the beginning of my complications. The “fog” that I was feeling in my head probably was the result of diabetes clogging my heart. Within a year of leaving the Statesman, a cardiologist told me I was a prime candidate for keeling over at any moment. Shortly after that, I had a five-way bypass surgery that essentially reconstructed my heart.

But this is not a story of gloom and doom. It’s one of personal triumph and beating the odds—with a lot of help from a lot of smart, and compassionate, medical professionals. Of course, they could not have had success without the technical advances in heart surgery procedures and diabetes care. I owe my life to agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute of Health, which have been game-changers for millions of Americans battling this horrific disease.

I am now 65 years old and feeling better than I have in decades. My eyesight has recovered completely, with the help of a lot of procedures, and my heart is strong and healthy. My cardiologist told me recently, “The best thing I can do for you is stay out of your way.” My golf game is almost where it was 30 years ago. If you assume that bogey is the “new” par, as I do, then I’m breaking par on a regular basis.

More importantly, my diabetes is under good control. A 7.4 A1C isn’t perfect, but it’s a lot better than the 9.5 readings I had been getting. Doctors are no longer seeing black helicopters when they read my medical chart.

The moral of this story is that diabetes is not a death sentence. It can be managed, and I am living proof that many of the horrible effects can be reversed.

I am blessed and it is a privilege for me to tell my congressional delegation, and other members of Congress, that continued funding for diabetes research and prevention is money well spent.

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Just because you’re not joining Chuck on the Hill doesn’t mean you can’t help. Anyone who is affected by diabetes can be an advocate and take part Capitol Hill Advocacy Day from afar.

Please sign our petition to Congress at http://ift.tt/1ToIy54. Together, we can win this battle!

The Association also asks that you join our Thunderclap and dedicate your social media status to help spread the word about our advocacy efforts. By inviting your friends and family to participate we can ignite a dialogue about the importance of preventing, treating and curing diabetes.

Source Diabetes Stops Here http://ift.tt/1VYZyQa

More Evidence Diabetes Drug Actos Raises Bladder Cancer Risk a Bit

Title: More Evidence Diabetes Drug Actos Raises Bladder Cancer Risk a Bit
Category: Health News
Created: 3/30/2016 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 3/31/2016 12:00:00 AM

Source MedicineNet Diabetes General http://ift.tt/1X1tR6Z