Reece's Piece's In a Diabetes World
Practical information about medications for people living with diabetes.
While medications are a wonderful resource for people, caution must be exercised regarding serious potential adverse effects. Fluoroquinolones, class of antibiotics, have risk of causing serious low blood sugar. Please click on the link below for more details.
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#diabetes #medication #safety #risk #hypoglycemia
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Happy Labor Day! I hope that each of you has an enjoyable Labor Day. Thank you to each of you who are working hard today on this holiday. A little reading for the day…actually this reading has an exciting update on the work of Beta Bionics and Bigfoot. Thank you diaTribe for always providing excellent updates and latest news in diabetes. If you do not subscribe to diaTribe, please do as they do an amazing job keeping followers up to date with all things diabetes as well as providing excellent peer support. Please click on the link below.
https://diatribe.org/whats-coming-beta-bionics-and-bigfoot-exciting-next-gen-automated-insulin-delivery?utm_source=diaTribe&utm_campaign=730399a63c-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_m176_T2D&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_22467a8528-730399a63c-152660205
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#diabetes #technology #update
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While diabetes medications are safe overall, it is important to note when new warnings are released about specific classes of diabetes medications. The FDA has released a warning of rare occurrences of serious infection genital area for the SGLT2 inhibitor drug class. Please click below for more details.
https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm617360.htm
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#diabetes #medication #warning #FDA
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Yesterday, I was reminded that there are times when dealing with a stressful family situation becomes top priority over managing one’s diabetes. The person with type 2 diabetes that I work with as their diabetes educator had a sudden family crisis which shifted their full focus to working through this crisis. This made doing their doing diabetes self management activities impossible for a short period of time. Good news is that the person recognized this and is now back doing their daily diabetes self management activities.
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#diabetes #life #crisis #management
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Yesterday, I had an interesting “ah-uh” moment in clinic. A gentlemen with type 2 diabetes who I have been working with over the last few months in managing his blood sugar stated that he did not follow the directions on his insulin prescription label. Rather, he was taking his bolus insulin the way he was counseled to take his bolus insulin prior to his working with me. Turns out the reason for his noctural hypoglycemia was the additional dose of bolus insulin that he was taking at bedtime in addition to his basal insulin dose. Lesson learned…always ask how a person is actually taking their medication.
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#diabetes #insulin #dosing #lesson #learned
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The Encounter
While attending the AADE 2018 Annual Meeting in Baltimore, my husband and I were meeting colleagues for an early evening dinner before heading to a couple of evening events. It had been a long packed day with lots of networking and learning. I was ready for a little downtime to simply relax before the evening events began. I was a bit unsure of what to expect when eating at the hotel’s restaurant. As soon as I walked into the restaurant, I was relieved that my husband, friends and I were the only ones in the place. No stress! Riley, the waiter, took our drink orders quickly. Over the process of Riley taking our order and bringing out food, the typical small talk conversations regarding professions and where we all were from naturally came up. Riley’s face lit up like it was Christmas morning when we all shared that we were diabetes educators. He sure had a story to tell!
Riley’s Story
Riley’s story began with his world being turned upside down a few years prior when he received his diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. He knew that he had family members with diabetes but this could not happen to him. He had always been very physically active in work. Prior to this diagnosis, he enjoyed cooking and eating all sorts of food with his favorite food being ribs. His family and friends always enjoyed his rich flavorful food creations. Diabetes was a game changer. He felt something had to change.
Riley’s Life Transformation
So Riley said he was determined he would figure out how to live life to its fullest even with diabetes. He identified that his first step was to figure how to change what types of food he was eating and how he was preparing his food. Unfortunately, he did not have a diabetes educator/specialist to collaborate with him in this change process. He did his own homework, and began to read food labels when grocery shopping. Riley began eating more vegetables (especially the non-starchy ones). His kitchen became an art studio where he transformed his recipes from unhealthy to healthy using lots of various spices, olive oil and new ingredients he had never used before. Before he realized it, he was living a radically healthier life all by making significant changes to his food ingredients, eating at home more often than eating out and, paying more attention to what food labels actually reveal. The added bonus! He lost about 30 pounds during this time.
Inspiration
Riley now wants to share his new approach to cooking and eating with friends, family and others in a cookbook. I strongly suspect that it will hit the shelves soon. Life is full of unexpected encounters with people who have powerful testimonies and stories that leave one inspired. Riley who happens to have type 2 diabetes inspired me through his transformation story. My only hope is that Riley will soon have the support of a diabetes educator/specialist to along his journey. Keep your eyes open for the “Riley” you may unexpectantly meet .
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#diabetes #inspiration #educator
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Access to diabetes self management education and support is a real challenge for many Americans. Please read update from the American Association of Diabetes Educators below regarding very important legislation that increases access to this vital service for those living with diabetes. Don’t forget to contact your Senator and Representative. Your voice must be heard.
On August 22, Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced the Expanding Access to Diabetes Self-Management Training (DSMT) Act (S. 3366) in the U.S. Senate. This is the Senate companion to legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on May 10 by Representatives Tom Reed (R-NY) and Diana DeGette (D-CO). AADE worked in collaboration with the Diabetes Advocacy Alliance and our Senate champions to introduce this important piece of legislation.
The Expanding Access to DSMT Act (H.R. 5768 and S. 3366) will reduce barriers and improve Medicare beneficiary access to DSMT services in the following ways:
-Allows the initial 10 hours of DSMT during the first year to remain available until fully utilized. If there’s a determination of medical necessity, then an additional 6 hours of training/ education may be added.
-Allows 6 hours of DSMT in subsequent years, up from 2 hours.
Removes the restriction related to coverage of DSMT and Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) services furnished on the same day.
Excludes DSMT services from Part B cost-sharing and deductible requirements.
-Permits physicians and qualified non-physician practitioners who are not directly involved in managing an individual’s diabetes to refer them for DSMT services. An example would be a specialist treating a comorbidity like gangrene or vision loss, or an emergency room doctor.
-Revises the Medicare Benefit Policy Manual to allow DSMT services to be furnished in a community-based location.
-Establishes a 2-year demonstration of virtual DSMT, potentially paving the way for future Medicare coverage of virtual DSMT services.
Click below to contact your Senator or Representative.
https://secure2.convio.net/aade/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=279
https://www.callmycongress.com/
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#diabetes #educator #blogging
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About a year ago, I began my journey as a blogger. My desire was to give to those living with diabetes beyond my day to day responsibilities in a clinical and academic setting. Hence, Reece’s Pieces in a Diabetes World was born. I am extremely grateful to Susan Weiner and Connie Brown-Riggs for their mentorship.
Do you have a desire to become a blogger with a focus on persons with diabetes or some particular aspect of diabetes? If so, below is a list of practical tips on how to get started.
Step out in faith and begin your blogging journey.
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#diabetes #educator #blogging
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I have just returned from the AADE 2018 Annual Meeting. As a diabetes educator/specialist, it is the ideal meeting to learn about the latest technologies, updates on clinical and self management resources, enhance my professional tool kit, network with educators and persons with diabetes as well as meet change agents (like Anna Norton, CEO of Diabetes Sisters, and Tom Karlya (aka Diabetes Dad)). I am recharged and ready to be a driver for diabetes self management and clinical management, and support for persons living with diabetes. Thanks so much to AADE for providing this great opportunity. Also, thank you for the peer support community for having a larger than ever presence at AADE18. No person with diabetes gets a day off so I am inspired to not take a day off from striving to support those living with diabetes.
#AADE18 #diabetes #educator #peer #support
Celebrating Papa
A couple of weeks ago my precious father in law quietly passed away at age 87. He was blessed with many full and enriching years of life. It was a fulfilling experience to meet so many of his life-long friends and extended family during his visitation and his funeral (I like to refer to it as a celebration of life). Through conversations with many of these friends and family, I had the opportunity to share about being a diabetes educator and, I found out several were familiar with- Reece’s Pieces in a Diabetes World blog, which I began last summer. As you can imagine, they had questions such as: Do you have diabetes? Why did you start a blog? as well as many other questions.
Papa’s death, along with the engaging conversations had with his friends of all ages, has prompted a time of reflection in my own life. I am intentionally taking the opportunity to reflect on my personal life – you know, the what’s and the why’s of my daily endeavors I commit my time and energy to. I’m even asking, why Reece’s Pieces in a Diabetes World?
Why I Started
Over the last 13 years, empowering people and serving people with diabetes has been a significant driver in my professional life. Over the last several years, I have had the privilege to get to know personally some very innovative people living with diabetes. I’ve met many diabetes educators who have provided creative and engaging support for those individuals living with diabetes.
They’ve all taught me how to think “outside of the box” to have a greater impact on those living with diabetes. Last summer, I decided it was time for me to model what I had seen others do. Hence, Reece’s Pieces in a Diabetes World (RPDW) was born last summer with the mission to provide practical information about medications for those living with diabetes.
Tom, Papa’s Buddy
Back to Papa, he spent the last 10 months enjoying life in an independent assisted living center which created the perfect environment for support and new friendships. Papa hit off a great friendship with Tom and, they both enjoyed watching old movies together in the afternoon. I found Tom particularly interesting in his rich life experiences which included both military and business worlds.
Also, I learned that Tom has Type 2 diabetes; so naturally, I had a desire to learn more as to how I could possibly provide support and encouragement. Unfortunately, I was not afforded the opportunity. Sadly, Tom didn’t have any peer support or support from a diabetes educator in managing his diabetes. Tom quietly passed away just a few days after Papa passed. As in Tom’s case, managing diabetes is quite difficult when grieving the loss of a dear friend.
Pressing On
Once you put your passion into action in a meaningful way, a natural momentum is created. Experiencing challenging life events will inspire us to dig deep within our soul and question ourselves as to why and what we are doing with our time. Doing so will help us to determine what really matters each day of our life here on earth.
As I close out this blog, I pose these questions to you:
What do you do each day to impact the lives of others living with diabetes?
Why are these actions or activities important to you?
Who should you reach out to and offer your support to?
This blog is dedicated in memory of my father in law, Harold Reece.
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