We’d like to welcome Bob Hawkinson of JoyofDiabetes.com as the newest writer for the SugarStats.com Blog. Bob has had to deal with and manage diabetes on a daily basis for 45 years and takes a pro-active approach to his diabetes management.

Bob takes a positive outlook on it all and it reflects refreshingly in his writing style. We welcome him to the blog and look forward to his future contributions to educate, inspire and help inform diabetics and non-diabetics alike world-wide.

Be sure to check out his book: “The Joy of Diabetes”.

Here is a little bit more about Bob:

“Bob’s account of his life with diabetes is a testimony to the truth that people with this chronic illness can lead very joyful, fulfilling lives. He focuses primarily on his accomplishments in a way that is uplifting to the reader.

At the same time he acknowledges that he must constantly prepare himself to manage his diabetes in whatever direction his life’s journey takes him. Bob demonstrates that people with diabetes can pursue whatever they want as long as preparation is made to handle the special needs of their blood sugar in that circumstance. By taking a pro-active approach to the management of his diabetes, he is a positive example for diabetics and all the people who love them. He stays one step ahead of his blood sugar through constant trial and error. At times it is a struggle but a fight well worth fighting. In his own words, “the management of diabetes is a marathon, not a sprint.”

Join the SugarStats Community Blog

Do you also have a passion for better diabetes management, educating/informing people and would also like to contribute to the SugarStats community blog?

Feel free to contact us at info@sugarstats.com and send us some examples of your writing, we’d love to talk to you.

Diabetes Hand Foundation and TuDiabetes/OneTouch Partnership

Big announcement from our friend Manny Hernandez from TuDiabetes.com on exciting new developments, projects and partnerships. Mainly the creation of the Diabetes Hand Foundation and partnership with OneTouch:

“The Diabetes Hand Foundation is (more…)

Happy Friday everyone. Here are some cool thinking happening in the Diabetes world as well as some interesting resources:

The New OneTouch UltraLink Wireless Meter

For those who don’t already have one or haven’t heard of it yet:

“The NEW OneTouch UltraLink Meter wirelessly sends your test results to your MiniMed Paradigm® insulin pump, making bolus dosing easier and more accurate.

Some advantages of the UltraLink:

• Wireless communication of test (more…)

Gestational Diabetes, Pre-Diabetes and Endocrinologists versus General Practitioners for addressing diabetes.

Interview with Dr. Anita Ramsetty, Endocrinologist Part 1
Interview with Dr. Anita Ramsetty, Endocrinologist Part 2

SugarStats’ host interviewer, Nedrra Lanakila, continues her talk with Endocrinologist Dr. Anita Ramsetty of EndocrineHelp.com. In this third and final post from their first interview, Dr. Ramsetty talks about Gestational Diabetes, signs of pre-diabetes and some of the factors to consider when determining your physician of choice to provide medical diabetes care.

N (Nedrra Lanakila): You mentioned about gestational diabetes. How do you treat your patients diagnosed as gestational diabetics?

A (Anita Ramsetty): We always end up in a somewhat odd situation because these women are split between the endocrinologist and their obstetrics teams. It can be a little bit dicey at times, trying to get all the communication loops closed but it gets done and quickly.

As an example, my case of gestational diabetes was fairly mild. I was pregnant with twins at the time so I sort of saw it coming. Between having the twins, gaining lots of weight and then having a strong family history I had seen it coming from afar and wasn’t too surprised.

In my case, I ended up checking my blood sugars very (more…)

Thats right, its Nov 14th and that means its world diabetes day. A day that we all unite, across the world, to bring attention and awareness to diabetes.

Last year we wrote about it too, there were some great events they had lined up. This year they got some even cooler things going on.

And though there are many out there struggling with diabetes daily and hate it, I think today is also a day to be grateful that we’re still alive. That we still have the gift of life and the opportunity to manage it the best we can. The opportunity to live deliberately and with joy.

Diabetes in Children

This is the 2nd annual WDD campaign and it is themed around Diabetes in Children and Adolescents. From worlddiabetesday.org:

“The theme of this year’s World Diabetes Day campaign is Diabetes in Children and Adolescents.Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood. It can strike children at any age, including pre-school children and even toddlers. Yet diabetes in children is often diagnosed late, when the child has diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), or it is misdiagnosed completely.”

Find a Blue Monument near you!

Another cool thing is that over 200 monuments around the world are lighting up in the world diabetes day color (Pantone 279). See them all on a map

If you have a blue monument near you, take a video and upload it to the WDD site
Learn more about World Diabetes Day at http://www.worlddiabetesday.org

SafeSittings.com is an interesting site that aims to make the search for diabetes babysitters easier nationwide.  On the site teens with diabetes can find matches in their area for parents with diabetic children.

The service was founded by Kimberly Ross and since being covered in the Wall Street Journal has grown to get major interest nationwide for people in this niche, both families and sitters alike.

The site acts as a bulletin board system where families and sitters can pair up to make a match. Sitters can post their profiles and skills/experience while families and parents can put out ads to find an available babysitter in their area.

From the website:

“SAFESITTINGS is a nationwide website that makes available teens with Type 1 diabetes as babysitters for children with diabetes. These teens have been managing their own care for many years. They understand the dangerous highs ands lows inherent in the disease and have the skills to test blood sugars, give insulin injections, adjust insulin pumps and treat hypoglycemia.”

If this is something you’re interested in then check them out at www.safesittings.com.
You can also find their FAQ at: http://www.safesittings.com/faq.php

Tags: DiabetesBabysitters, Diabetic Babysitting, SafeSittings.com, Diabetes Babysitting Service

Bernard of BernardFarrell.com was able to produce a very nice and informative video demo of a Animas 2020 Insulin Pump he was able to get a hold of.

He goes through various settings and hows how the pump even comes with its own food and carb database built in to help with Bolus calculations before meals.

For all you deciding on which pump to get or to get a pump at all take a look:

Here you can find his full review of the Animas 2020 Insulin Pump

Tags: Animas2020, Animas 2020 Insulin Pump, Animas 2020 Review, Insulin Pump Review, Basal, Carb Counting

A cool little project has popped up called Diabetes365. Originally started by Beth of insearchofbalance.wordpress.com, other diabetes bloggers like Bernard of www.bernardfarrell.com have joined in too.

What is Diabetes365? In Bernards words:

“Diabetes365 is an idea that I got from Beth of insearchofbalance. She started her Diabetes365 photo project a few days ago and I couldn’t think of a better way to inform people of what it’s like to live with diabetes 365 days a year.

The idea behind this Diabetes365 project is that I’ll take one picture every day of the year. I’ll post it to the flickr Diabetes365 pool and blog about it briefly.

Would you like to take part in Diabetes365? You can join the flickr pool provided that you post a picture there each day (or wait a few days and post several pictures, one per day). Each picture must be tagged with diabetes365 and titled with the date taken and which day of your year of photos it is. If you’d like to blog your photos, feel free to do that also.”

Are you part of flickr and want to find out more? Go to the Diabetes365 Project Flickr Group or check out his first post.