Wellness with a Wow
Grateful
shopping in cities with big crazy malls, answering emails and returning calls… holiday parties with glitter and mirth, visiting family from all round the earth. hustle and bustle and running around, no time for resting – no time to sit down. Read Grateful in its entirety here.
Join us for Divabetic’s “Family Affair” free diabetes outreach scheduled for Saturday, may 14, 11 AM – 3 PM at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
We will be presenting our first-ever, “Va Va Va Vision!” Eyewear fashion show hosted by Divabetic Image & Style Advisor, Catherine Schuller to raise awareness for diabetes eye disease.
Diabetic eye disease comprises a group of eye conditions that affect people with diabetes. These conditions include diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular edema (DME), cataract, and glaucoma. All forms of diabetic eye disease have the potential to cause severe vision lossand blindness
Most of us take our vision for granted. Seeing is one of the easiest things to do in the world- you just have to open your eyes. Apart from that, so much of our lives are based on visual stimulation. From work to fashion and entertainment, our eyes form a large part of our everyday ‘divabetic’ lives. Unfortunately, most of us don’t think about actual eye care until something goes wrong.
Regular eye exams can tell you a lot about your general state of health. For example, diabetes is very often diagnosed via an eye exam. Other diseases like glaucoma can be quickly detected and treated by going for regular eye tests.
There are a number of ways to maintain good eye care and health while you work. First of all, regular eye exams are a must and it’s important to tell your doctor how much computer work you do each day. When using your computer, make sure that you stop for breaks at regular intervals. It’s a good idea to just get up and walk to a window and just have a look outside. Allowing the eyes to look away from the screen, particularly at something soothing can be very resting for the eyes.
Family Affair on Saturday, May 14, 11 AM – 3 PM
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
Bluemle Life Sciences Building
233 S. 10th St. Philadelphia , PA 19107
Free Admission Register Now: 1-800-JEFF-NOW
The free diabetes outreach program is hosted by the happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic. The program is supported by the American Diabetes Association (Philadelphia, PA Chapter), Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Divabetic.
LISTEN NOW: Our popular Diabetes Late Nite podcast hosted by Mr. Divabetic with musical inspiration from Etta James
True or False? Researchers have linked diabetic nerve damage to high blood pressure and high levels of fat in blood.
The correct answer is: True. Researchers think that over time, this combination damages the nerves. They also suspect that the nerves may be damaged by an autoimmune response triggered by diabetes. They also suspect that smoking or alcohol abuse contributes to the problem.
For more information on diabetic nerve damage, here are a few resources to check out.
Diabetes Nerve Damage
Diabetic neuropathy is a nerve disorder caused by diabetes. Symptoms of neuropathy include numbness and sometimes pain in the hands, feet, or legs. Nerve damage caused by diabetes can also lead to problems with internal organs such as the digestive tract, heart, and sexual organs, causing indigestion, diarrhea or constipation, dizziness, bladder infections, and impotence.
Neuropathy (Nerve Damage)
Nerve damage from diabetes is called diabetic neuropathy (new-ROP-uh-thee). About half of all people with diabetes have some form of nerve damage.
Diabetic neuropathy
Diabetic neuropathy is a type of nerve damage that can occur if you have diabetes. High blood sugar can injure nerve fibers throughout your body, but diabetic neuropathy most often damages nerves in your legs and feet.
Tips for Treating Diabetic Nerve Pain
Diabetes can cause long-term problems throughout your body, especially if you don’t control your blood sugar effectively, and sugar levels remain high for many years. High blood sugar can cause diabetic neuropathy, which damages the nerves that send signals from your hands and feet.
On July’s Diabetes Late Nite podcast I interviewed Chef Robert Lewis aka ‘The Happy Diabetic’ about grilling tips for the Summer. Our Divabetic Inspiration, P.M. Dawn’s frontman, Prince Be suffered multiple diabetes health-related complications including stroke, amputation and kidney disease before passing away at age 46 earlier this year.
People living with kidney disease are encouraged to follow specific dietary guidelines for optimum health including eating less protein. Since one of the biggest joys of Summer is using your backyard grill I asked Chef Robert to share some healthy summer grilling recipes that don’t include red meat.
After graduating from the Prestigios Culinary Institute of America in 1976. In 1998 Chef Robert was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Thus began his motivation to create great tasting dishes that are easy to prepare.
Chef Robert’s Salmon Skewers of Love Recipe
What’s in it?
2 medium-size fresh salmon filets
2 tablespoon fresh garlic
3 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2-3 large leafs of fresh basil
2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 red pepper
2 green peppers
1 red onion
1 large Portobello mushrooms
4 bamboo skewers
Let’s put it together
done the job for you.
with salmon and refrigerate for 2 hours.
keep them from burning.)
Alternate peppers, onions, mushrooms, and salmon on skewers. Place on a hot grill for 8 to 10 minutes, turning often, or place on a baking sheet in a 375-degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Serves 4.
Nutrition per serving: 226 calories, 26.5 grams fat, 9.31 grams carbohydrates and 40 grams protein.
Chef Robert has been selected buy Sanofi and Everyday Health to do consumer online cooking videos. He is a keynote speaker for Taking Control of Your Diabetes all across the USA. He has worked with Sanofi, Abbott, Accu-Check-Roche, American Diabetes Association, Lyons Club International, Rotary Clubs, University of Wisconsin, Genesis Hospitals, Hy-Vee Grocery Stores, Kroger stores, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Hill and Valley sugar free bakeries to name just a few!
His recipes celebrate great-tasting food that both diabetics and non-diabetics can enjoy. Robert’s cookbooks are filled with tips, tidbits, and humorous anecdotes that I hope will make cooking fun! You are not what you eat, you are how much you eat!
Visit Chef Robert’s ‘The Happy Diabetic’ website for recipes, cooking tips, and cookbooks.
The happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic talks about the positive impact that practicing gratitude has on living with diabetes on Diabetes Late Nite with Poet Lorraine Brooks.
Expressing, or being in a state of, gratitude often requires reframing our current situation through mindfulness, or acute awareness, of how fortunate many of us are in our lives.
Research supports the fact that having more gratitude, or being in a state of gratitude more often, has been associated with increased quality of life, general happiness, better self-esteem and less depression.
Grateful by Lorraine Brooks
shopping in cities with big crazy malls,
answering emails and returning calls…
holiday parties with glitter and mirth,
visiting family from all round the earth.
hustle and bustle and running around
no time for resting – no time to sit down.
but is that really what this is about?
is Christmas supposed to be knocking us out?
to me it’s about, not the drinks and the food,
but rather the time we spend doing things good.
to me it’s about, not the presents and toys,
but rather the gratefulness, prayers, and joys.
The messages Christmas and Channukah do,
are peace, love, and kindness,
And thankfulness too.
Same thing with Kwanzaa and all of the rest.
they show us that gratitude’s always the best.
that Jesus’ family could not find a bed…
it meant he was born in a manger instead.
that oil that was barely enough to give light,
provided the comfort and warmth for 8 nights.
and instead of remembering why this is relevant,
we call out our brethren, and do things malevolent.
regardless the challenge we face day to day,
we’ve got to be thankful we’re really OK.
we’ve got to give thanks we have things we can use,
and we’ve got to give thanks we have freedom to choose.
I choose to be grateful for all that I’ve got
and not to be jealous of things I have not.
I’m grateful for numbers that stay in the range,
and try not to worry about things I cant change.
I’m grateful for meters, and lancets and pumps,
and people who help keep me out of the dumps.
I’m grateful for lights and the cool decorations,
and for holiday treats, if I use moderation.
I’m grateful i still have the will to succeed…
I have more than I hoped for, and more than I need.
so lets all make a promise to stop being hateful…
and focus on staying eternally grateful.
Reinforcing the relationship between gratitude and depression, new clinical research demonstrates that using a self-paced online training to increase gratitude directly improved mood and reduced symptoms of depression in adults with diabetes. As depression is a known barrier to improving self care (i.e., making dietary changes or getting more physical activity), learning to practice more gratitude may be a strategy toward behavior change for those with diabetes.
LISTEN: Diabetes Late Nite inspired by P.M. Dawn featuring games and prizes. Guests include Poet Lorraine Brooks, Mama Rose Marie, the Charlie’s Angels of Outreach, Lynette Luckers from the Marion Luckers Kidney Foundation, Chef Robert Lewis aka ‘The Happy Diabetic’, Janis Roszler, RD, CDE, FAND and Leon Petrossian. Hosted by Mr. Divabetic.
Diabetes Late Nite is a fast-paced, full-filled hour of diabetes education and wellness advice that encourages listeners to “laugh a little, learn a lot.”
Although you’ll rarely find a character living with diabetes in the movies, there are plenty of them in books. Unfortunately these literary depictions of diabetes usually follow the same tragic demise you’ll find in the play and film, ‘Steel Magnolias.
I just learned about another awful depiction of diabetes in NY Best-Selling author, Mary Kay Andrews‘ latest novel, ‘The Weekenders’ when I pieced up the free paper, Pink in Charleston, SC.
Is this true or false? I’m currently reading the book and I haven’t read anything that I feel is offensive related to diabetes in this book.
For those of you who have not read The Weekender yet, the story features a 12 year old girl, Maggy is living with type 1 diabetes. She was recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes before learning that her father was murdered and that her family is bankrupt. I think this scenario would be pretty stressful for anyone even if they weren’t living with diabetes. I think it’s reasonable to assume that she would be dealing with a lot of unexpected high’s and low’s as she struggles with her emotions.
However my feelings don’t seem to echo those of other readers from the diabetes community based on on reviews posted on Amazon.com. Here are a few comments from Amazon reviews:
“The daughter was an undisciplined brat, I had a mouthy 12 year old who suffered from low blood sugars …”
“The behavior of the 12yr old daughter was outrageous and intolerable, the fact that she was never truly disciplined in any way for her attitude was galling …”
The book actually centers on Maggy’s mother’s life, Riley. Riley who has a summer home on Belle Isle, unexpectedly loses her husband (who was murdered). Of course, she has more than just the murder of her husband to worry about (!) This is because her husband has left her and her daughter, Maggie, high and dry without a penny in the world. Her beautiful house has a foreclosure sign on it, her money is all tapped out at the bank, and she has no husband to get the answers from. What is supposed to be a summer of fun turns into a downright nightmare for Riley and her family as the begin to uncover the hidden secrets that her late husband was hiding from them all. And to crack the case, they all need to keep open minds and hearts.
Have you read the book? If so, we’d love to hear from you! Please e-mail your comments to mrdivabetic@gmail.com
Plus, I’d love to invite the author, Mary Kay Andrews on our monthly podcast to talk about the depiction of type 1 diabetes featured in her book.
LISTEN NOW: Diabetes Late Nite inspired by P.M. Dawn. Hosted by Mr. Divabetic
It’s Complicated
So many things can go wrong with our parts… It’s scary to think of, I know. The thought of a failure, infection or worse… Of losing a foot, or a toe.
Read It’s Complicated in its entirety here.