DiabetesSisters

January 2018, ISSUE 111 Sponsored by

Dear Diabetes Sister,

Happy new year! I hope everyone had a memorable and restful year end and has started 2018 with new goals and aspirations.

I'm happy to share that the last 20 days of 2017, I trialed the Abbott FreeStyle Libre glucose monitoring system, thanks to the generosity of Abbott. If you'd like more information on my thoughts, please send an email to info@diabetessisters.org and I'll respond with my thoughts.

At DiabetesSisters, we are back at it with our first enewsletter of the year. In it, you'll find a recap of last month's International Diabetes Federation Congress in Abu Dhabi, where we presented our first international paper. Also, take a look at our 2017 Year End Infographic, highlighting our successes last year.

On our website, we've revamped some pages, making things easier for you to read and share with others. We've added a new tab "For Our Misters", thinking about some of the needs of the men who support us in our journey. Please be patient as we fill our new pages with information and relevant content.

This year, we are partnering with the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) to bring you a monthly column "Ask Our CDE" - check it out in the right hand column.

You can read more about our PODS Meetup group in Jacksonville, FL, who gather monthly to discussion nutrition and ways to make diabetes more friendly to their stomachs. If you are looking for a PODS Meetup in your area, check out our list of meetups this month. If there isn't one near you, please consider starting one!

Until next month!

In Sisterhood,

Anna Norton, MS, CEO

24 Triumphant (NOT Perfect!) Years THRIVING with Diabetes

LOOKING BACK: 2017 YEAR IN REVIEW

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

RECAP: 2017 INTERNATIONAL DIABETES FEDERATION CONGRESS

Last month, I had the privilege to travel to Abu Dhabi to participate in the 2017 International Diabetes Federation (IDF) Congress. While I had attended previously (2015 IDF in Vancouver), this was my first experience presenting. Along with Nicole Bereolos, PhD, MPH, CDE, and Christel Marchand Aprigliano, Founder of the Diabetes Collective (and Diabetes UnConference), we presented our abstract and poster, Peer support and education to better thrive with diabetes.

With a total of nearly 8,000 participants from over 180 countries, I spent most of my three days of conferencing in sessions in the Living with Diabetes stream. This stream, or track, focused on the complexities of life with diabetes, that which DiabetesSisters spends much time developing programs and services. For patient organizations, this stream is integral to allow clinicians to better understand the psychosocial elements of life with diabetes, reinforcing that diabetes is not purely a numbers game, and that many other facets can affect - and even enhance - living and thriving with diabetes.

CONTINUE READING ANNA'S EXPERIENCE AT IDF 2017

PODS SPOTLIGHT: DIABETESSISTERS OF JACKSONVILLE, FL

After attending the inaugural Weekend for Women conference in Raleigh NC in 2010, and two more conferences after that, PODS Leader Diane Bajalia knew she wanted to share her experience with other women with diabetes. She launched the Jacksonville PODS Meetup in January 2013. The group's 10-12 core members have been successful in staying together and meeting regularly for nearly 5 years. Diane feels great about the group's success and knows it is due to members actively taking part in decisions and offering ideas such as different places to meet and ways to enhance each month's educational theme.

"There is nothing more powerful than peer to peer support."

- Diane Bajalia, Jacksonville PODS Leader

The Jacksonville PODS makes the monthly Meetup themes even more active and fun. Instead of just talking about exercise, they plan and do an exercise session together as a Meetup. They discuss nutritional choices as they bring food and recipes to share, along with carb counts and nutrition info for what they're sharing. Recently they used PODS grant funding to bring a nutrition consultant into a Meetup to demonstrate and engage members in cooking new recipes, and members learned how to make delicious, healthy, lower-carb dishes.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE JACKSONVILLE, FL PODS MEETUP

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OUR POSITION STATEMENT

At DiabetesSisters, we believe all women with diabetes should have access to a healthy support system that includes peers with diabetes. A healthy peer support system provides encouragement, empowerment, and education with the purpose of helping each woman reach her full potential in life. An empowered, informed woman with diabetes is a healthy woman with diabetes!

What We Stand For:

Diversity- DiabetesSisters strives to represent and include all women in a way that reflects the diversity of the population.
Encouragement- DiabetesSisters strives to provide a healthy environment for women to seek and provide encouragement throughout their journey with diabetes.
Collaboration- In order for women with diabetes to reach their full potential, we believe supportive collaboration and information exchange are essential.
Growth- DiabetesSisters promotes the growth of womens' spirits, souls, and intellect through supportive information exchange.
Respect- DiabetesSisters promotes the respect of all women's opinions, beliefs, questions, and concerns regardless of race, religion, socioeconomic status, background, or sexual orientation.

The vision for DiabetesSisters is a world in which women are fully empowered to effectively manage their diabetes.

DiabetesSisters is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve the health and quality of life of women with diabetes and to advocate on their behalf.

DiabetesSisters helps to connect women living with diabetes through peer support, education, and advocacy that improves their health and quality of life. Since 2008, your dollars have allowed us to grow our programs and services, serving thousands of women each year.

Looking for a Diabetes Education Program?

As a member of your healthcare team, a diabetes educator makes managing your diabetes easier. They work with you to develop a plan to stay healthy and give you the tools and ongoing support to make that plan a regular part of your life.

Click HERE to find a diabetes education program in your area.