Author: drmandyreece1

Do you know a college student who has diabetes? Did you know that there is an organization devoted to college students who have diabetes? This great organization is College Diabetes Network.  Please share with friends and family who know or have kids in college who have diabetes.  College is a time of great vulnerability and potential.  Learn more about College Diabetes Network https://collegediabetesnetwork.org/

Please share your thoughts and subscribe to receive my blogs.

#diabetes #college #students #support

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook @ReecesPiecesDi and Instagram ReecesPiecesDI.

Amid all of my responsibilities as a diabetes educator, coach and supporter for those living with diabetes, I at times struggle to slow down enough to test my knowledge gained a few years back with current science and practice guidelines.  A couple of ways that I filter through my knowledge is to test it against the annual ADA standards of medical care in diabetes (other current practice guidelines) as well as discussing with colleagues from non-pharmacy professions to get their perspective and insight.  Recently while waiting to teach in a diabetes course for healthcare professionals preparing for CDE exam, I listened on a great discussion on dietary cholesterol and eating eggs.  I walked away with food for thought and a few cobwebs cleaned out of some outdated knowledge that I held. Bottom line reading current guidelines, having discussions with colleagues and always seeking to learn from others are vital keys to staying current.

Please share your thoughts and subscribe to receive my blogs.

#diabetes #knowledge #staying #current

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook @ReecesPiecesDi and Instagram ReecesPiecesDI.

I challenge my fellow healthcare professionals and students studying to become a healthcare professional to live as a person with diabetes for three days.  During these three days, check your blood sugar twice daily, inject five units of normal saline each evening, complete 30 minutes of physical activity each day and keep a food journal.  I actually have pharmacy students in my diabetes elective course at PCOM – Georgia Campus School of Pharmacy complete these activities for three days.  They find it eye opening and can better empathize with persons living with diabetes at the end of three days. How will you feel at the end of three days?

Please share your thoughts and subscribe to receive my blogs.

#diabetes #challenge

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook @ReecesPiecesDi and Instagram ReecesPiecesDI.

 

Do not leave home without your medication list.  It is vital to always carry a list of your medications (including prescription, nonprescription and nutritional supplements) with you at all times. Your list can be electronic (in your phone) or hand written list.  Be prepared!

Please share your thoughts and subscribe to receive my blogs.

#diabetes #med #list #safety

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook @ReecesPiecesDi and Instagram ReecesPiecesDI.

Where does time go! It is already September which means it is time to get your annual flu (influenza) vaccination.  It is one of five recommended vaccines for persons with diabetes. The additional recommended vaccines are Tdap, zoster, pneumococcal and hepatitis B.   Check out the link below to the CDC vaccines page for more details.

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/hcp/imz/adult-conditions.html

Please share your thoughts and subscribe to receive my blogs.

#diabetes #vaccines #September

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook @ReecesPiecesDi and Instagram ReecesPiecesDI.

Below are some important preparation tips for people with diabetes who may be impacted by Hurricane Gordon.

• PEOPLE WITH DIABETES AND LOVED ONES:

1-800-DIABETES will be open all day tomorrow and this week to support people with diabetes and their loved ones.

Set up communications with family or loved ones outside the emergency area BEFORE the storm arrives. Keep in mind that text messaging may be an alternative to share status reports.

• Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/DiabetesDisasterResponse/

• https://www.healthcareready.org/rxopen is the free service that offers locations of open pharmacies in the areas affected by a disaster.  This site will also track any “pop-up” or mobile pharmacies (e.g., Walmart, CVS) that may be available on the ground after a disaster.

• If a state of Emergency is declared in your state, patients should check with their current pharmacies to see if they can obtain an emergency override, allowing them to get more medication than is typically prescribed during a time period.

• Supplies are always needed at Insulin for Life and more information is available here to share with your constituents: http://ifl-usa.org/what-we-need

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.

Please share your thoughts and subscribe to receive my blogs.

#diabetes #medication #safety #risk #hypoglycemia

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook @ReecesPiecesDi and Instagram ReecesPiecesDI.

 

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

Please share your thoughts and subscribe to receive my blogs.

#diabetes #technology #update

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook @ReecesPiecesDi and Instagram ReecesPiecesDI.

 

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

Please share your thoughts and subscribe to receive my blogs.

#diabetes #medication #warning #FDA

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook @ReecesPiecesDi and Instagram ReecesPiecesDI.

 

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.

Please share your thoughts and subscribe to receive my blogs.

#diabetes #life #crisis #management

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook @ReecesPiecesDi and Instagram ReecesPiecesDI.